


Shoot Me Down

by RunFarAwayWithMe



Category: Pitch Perfect (2012)
Genre: Abuse, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-14
Updated: 2013-05-14
Packaged: 2017-12-11 21:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/803278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunFarAwayWithMe/pseuds/RunFarAwayWithMe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beca and Chloe are at the start of their new relationship, but Chloe has a home truth that comes to light on their first date. There isn't much Beca can do to help the situation without severe consequences for Chloe, but she learns that sometimes just being there for someone is enough. Bechloe fanfic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Aubrey was talking, as she had been for the past thirty minutes, but Beca had no clue what she was saying. Her eyes were focused on the breathtakingly beautiful girl standing behind the know-it-all blonde. Quickly all her attention on Chloe vanished when the sharp sound of Aubrey clapping twice resonated through the room that the Bellas were practising in. Thankfully the only words now leaving her mouth were ones dismissing everyone for the end of rehearsal. Beca picked up her bag, instinctively moved her headphones from her neck back up to her ears and headed for the door. Moments before she could press play on her iPod she heard, “Beca! Can I talk to you for a sec?”   
She spun round and was both shocked and delighted to see it was Chloe asking to see her, and not the slave driver who dictated everything in the acapella group. Aubrey looked suspiciously at Chloe before receiving a glare back from her friend, cueing her exit. “What’s up?” Beca asked as she returned her headphones to her neck, curious as to what she wanted to speak about. Normally it was Aubrey doing all the talking when the Bellas were concerned. But then again, what Chloe had planned to say had nothing to do with the Bellas. She took in a deep breath and smiled as the brunette walked towards her, and she prayed that her nerves weren’t showing on the outside as loudly and as profusely as they were on the inside.   
‘Just play it down, act like it’s no big deal,’ Chloe told herself. She had been prepping herself for this all day, and now in the moment she was so tempted to back out and just talk about the choreography for ‘I Saw a Sign’. Beca was now directly opposite her, looking so beautiful with her dark blue eyes softly gleaming. Taking one more breath in to steady herself for the conversation she was about to have, Chloe began, “I was just wondering what you were doing tonight?”   
Confused and not wanting to make assumptions Beca responded, “Why? Are there extra rehearsals tonight because I really can’t take any more?” Chloe laughed, but felt the butterflies in her stomach double when she had to explain herself. “No, there’s no extra rehearsal. Even I couldn’t take any more of Aubrey’s coaching. I was wondering if you were free to meet up with me, for a date.” The anticipation was absolute torture as Chloe waited for Beca to respond, but little did she know Beca was excitedly screaming on the inside.   
“Yeah I suppose I’m free,” Beca said in attempts to hide her joy, but the stupidly large grin on her face gave her away. “Great!” Chloe responded feeling so relieved, “I know it’s not extravagant but how does dinner at my place sound?” It was almost too much for Beca to take in – she had suspected Chloe liked her because of all the subtle hints, but now it was actually turning into a date. “It sounds perfect,” she replied, still unable to budge the grin from her face.  
Chloe got back to her apartment and dumped the shopping bag on the kitchen counter. It wasn’t much at all: most of the food was as simple as stick in the oven for twenty minutes then serve, but she wanted to make a good impression. “Aubrey I’m going to need you to occupy yourself outside the apartment for a few hours tonight,” Chloe called out to her college roommate. Seeing the disgruntled look appearing on the blonde’s face she continued: “Come on you owe me this. How many times have you made me leave the apartment so you and Brad could have a quiet night in?” Aubrey’s expression changed into one of defeat as she said, “Fine, but I hope he’s worth it,” and on that note she picked up the phone to arrange plans for the night.   
Seeing the time, Chloe rushed out of the apartment and headed to her parents’ house. They lived nearby, and she promised she would come and pop in for an hour that afternoon. Luckily they didn’t live far and so within five minutes she was on the doorstep of the large, modern house waiting to be let in. Already Chloe could hear the shouting of her parents, her dad sounding the most dominant. She rang the doorbell again and the noise from within stopped. Her mother appeared at the door with a smile on her face as if she hadn’t just been arguing with her husband for the fifth time that day.  
“Hi,” Chloe said as she leaned in to kiss her mother on the cheek. “Are you okay?” she asked, knowing full well what her despicable father was like. Mrs Beale weakly nodded before pulling her daughter in the house and sitting her down comfortably as she went to make a coffee. Chloe sat anxiously on the sofa, and when her mom didn’t return after a while she stood up and walked to the kitchen, pressed her ear to the door praying the only noise she’d hear was the kettle boiling. Her hopes were crushed when the only sound was her father speaking in a threatening voice as usual.  
As always she knew to stay outside. Her mom hated it when she witnessed their arguments, even if she was now past teenage years. But on hearing the sound of crockery shatter she couldn’t stand it anymore, and Chloe burst into the kitchen. Her mom was cowering in the corner of the kitchen and pleaded, “Darling, go outside please!” But it was too late: Chloe had stood outside for every single one of her parents arguments but now it was time she protected her mother, even if that meant making herself susceptible to her dad’s abuse. “Leave her alone!” she said to the man standing in front of her with half a plate in his hand. She didn’t noticed how sharp the serrated edge was until it came crashing into her face.  
Warm blood began running down her cheek and her only response was anger. Not because he had hit her, but because she now felt the pain that her mom had experienced for so many years. Unsure whether to hit her father or scream or cry, she settled for merely walking out of the house. She knew her mother would be okay – when he hurt someone her dad always went to the pub, not to drown his sorrows but to celebrate his victory. Eventually she arrived at her apartment, managed to stop the bleeding, and set her mind to the task in hand: Beca.   
Half an hour later there was a knock at the door and Chloe’s heart leapt. She swung open the door and said, “Hi.” Both of them had smiles as wide as their face and Chloe pulled Beca in for a hug. The mere presence of her made her feel calm, she felt herself and unlike anything she had felt before. Chloe pulled Beca over to the couch whilst they waited for dinner to cook and prayed that she wouldn’t notice the gash on her face, as she knew she wouldn’t be able to lie. Something about her made her feel like all her walls were taken down and she was safe with Beca, but even so she didn’t want to put a downer on the evening.  
Beca’s heart had not calmed down since Chloe had asked her over. Now she was actually sitting opposite the beautiful ginger haired girl she had been admiring since the Activities Fair and it felt like a dream come true. Everything about her was so… perfect. Initially Beca focused on those blue eyes that she loved, but then she noticed the large cut running across Chloe’s cheek. “Where the hell did that come from?” Beca asked with a concerned look on her face.  
“Oh it was stupid, my kitchen top has a sharp edge and I tripped and it cut my face on my way down,” it was a ridiculous lie and Chloe knew it.  
Beca gave her a disbelieving look after examining the round, completely non-sharp edges of the kitchen top. Chloe felt the tears build up in her eyes and she couldn’t hold them back.   
“Chloe, what’s going on?”


	2. Chapter Two

Chloe shook her head trying to convince Beca that the wound on her face was merely down to clumsiness, but she knew it was hopeless. The two girls were sitting cross-legged on the sofa now, relaxing in each other’s company. Two small tears sped down Chloe’s face and she winced as one of them reached the cut on her cheek. Anxiously she wiped her face and tried to change the topic to dinner. “You’re not a vegetarian are you? I probably should have asked before...” Ignoring the question Beca moved close to Chloe on the sofa and took her face in her hands, wiping more tears away with her thumb. “You can tell me anything,” she said soothingly, “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”  
Her hands retreated to her lap as Chloe sniffed and began, “My… my dad. He has a… a temper.” She took in a shaky breath and another tear spilled out, so Beca reached out and clasped their hands together supportively. Chloe continued, “I went over my parents’ house this afternoon and they were fighting. He’s always manipulated her, fought her… hit her. But today I couldn’t take it any more – my mom’s protected me all these years but now it’s my turn. As long as he’s hitting me, he won’t be bothered with my mom.”  
Beca wiped away the new tears spilling from those beautiful blue eyes that she loved and said, “He can’t do that and get away with it. You have to tell someone, the police - they can help you and your mom.” The fear that appeared in Chloe’s eyes made Beca’s heart sink. She hated seeing her friend so scared, so hurt. She wanted so badly to ease the pain, to somehow banish the fear and agony that Chloe felt but she had no idea what to do. Unsure if it was the right thing to do, Beca hesitantly she placed her hand under Chloe’s chin and pulled her forwards. She looked down at the beautifully shaped, soft, pink lips then back up to the piercing blue eyes searching for any sign that she should stop.   
Finding no hint of resistance in Chloe, Beca leaned forwards closing the distance between them. Their lips met, and Beca felt her whole body melt. She had been waiting for this moment for so long and now she finally felt the soft, sweet touch of Chloe’s lips against her own. Reluctantly they pulled away after a few seconds, both smiling and forgetting any earlier pain. Beca rested their foreheads together and had her hand at the back of Chloe’s neck, gently stroking her hair. “I won’t let him hurt you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” They sat there for a while finding comfort in each other’s eyes until their thoughts were interrupted by the timer sounding in the kitchen.   
Chloe jumped up and hurried to the kitchen, determined not to let anything burn. “Take a seat at the table, I’ll bring it over in a sec,” she called out. Beca did as she was told and sat at the table: it was neatly laid out but nothing special, the only ornament being a small tea-light candle in the middle. She looked around the apartment, admiring the size of it compared to her tiny dorm room which she had to share with the antisocial Kimmy Jin. Her attention was drawn to the kitchen when she heard Chloe singing ‘Titanium’ to herself as she put dinner on a plate, and Beca’s mind cast back to the day in the shower. If anything she admired the confidence of the ginger that had stood before her whilst she cowered in the corner trying to hide every visible inch of her body.   
She brought herself back into reality when Chloe stood before her, fully clothed, placing a delicious plate of food on the table. “This looks great, you must be a really good cook,” Beca said. Chloe laughed and responded, “The only talent I have is piercing the lid and putting it in the oven. But if you want to think I’m actually a good cook then go ahead.” Beca spent the next few hours at Chloe’s apartment, eating, laughing, and talking. It reached 11pm and Chloe said, “Aubrey will be back soon. Maybe you should go before you make her spew everywhere in shock.” She walked Beca to the door and backed her against the doorframe before leaning in for a kiss. Beca found her hands rising to Chloe’s waist as their lips met and both girls felt their hearts catch fire when Chloe ran her fingers through the brunette’s hair. Moments passed, and Beca said, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” as she forced herself to break off the kiss. Chloe waved her hand as Beca walked out the door and back to her own dorm.  
The next day at rehearsals was the same as any other: Beca zoned out Aubrey to stare at Chloe as usual, but this time Chloe would glance every now and then to wink back at her knowingly. In attempts to hide the painful cut on her cheek she spent most of the time sitting down and resting her face in one hand which she strategically used to cover her cheek. However the plan didn’t work to well when Aubrey insisted on another cardio session around the auditorium chairs. “Chloe, what the hell is that on your face?” Aubrey asked, not out of concern but out of annoyance that her friend was bringing down the appearance of the Bellas.   
“It was a um… a car door swung open and caught my face,” Chloe explained smiling, hoping to avoid any other questions. “Doesn’t look like a car door did that,” called out Fat Amy, and Chloe felt the blood rush to her cheeks as she panicked to find further explanation. Then, she heard Beca’s voice speak up, “It was my fault. I was in a taxi and Chloe bent down to speak to me through the window, but I opened the door and it caught her face.”   
The rest of the Bellas seemed to believe it; they figured if Beca was there when it happened and supported the story then it must be the truth. As Aubrey led the girls in a jog she began saying how important maintaining a good, clean appearance was, but neither Beca nor Chloe heard her. They made sure to run at the back of the group, and anxious not to let anyone overhear Chloe mouthed, “Thank you.” Beca smiled understandingly then faced eyes front, not wanting to distress Aubrey any more. If she couldn’t ring the police to get Chloe’s dad locked up, she was glad she could at least help her in little ways like this.   
For the first time in her life, Chloe felt warm and loved: someone actually cared about her enough to protect her and lie for her. She wanted nothing more than to hold Beca’s hand, but unwilling to let their relationship become apparent to the rest of the Bellas she settled for just running really close together so every now and then their hands would brush together. Chloe couldn’t help but smile, because even an action as small as that brought her a world of comfort.


	3. Chapter Three

Beca opened up her laptop and began to load an episode of CSI. Chloe had come over, and instead of watching a movie they settled for a TV programme they both like. She moved over on her bed to make space for Chloe, who walked over with a bowl of popcorn in her hand. “Which episode are we watching?” she asked, throwing a few pieces of popcorn in her mouth. “My favourite one,” Beca answered vaguely. They settled down into the mattress and the theme music began to play.  
Shortly into the first quarter of the show, Beca stopped watching and started to become occupied with her own thoughts. All she wanted was to put her arm around Chloe, but nerves were taking over. What if Chloe hated that sort of thing? Or what if, knowing her own clumsy self, she moved her arm and whacked Chloe in the face? Her mind was making up more and more possibilities of what could go wrong, each more ridiculous than the last. Eventually, she decided to just go for it. So after planning exactly how fast to move her arm and where exactly to rest it, she lifted up her left arm and placed it tentatively around Chloe’s shoulders.  
She took in a deep breath waiting to see how Chloe responded, and didn’t breathe out until she was happy when Chloe didn’t pull away. A smile crept onto Beca’s face and she hoped it wasn’t obvious to the girl in her arms. As always, Chloe felt the exact same: her lips formed into a smile the moment she felt Beca’s arm around her shoulders, but she didn’t want to let on how happy it made her. She trained her eyes back on the screen and tried to figure out what was happening and pick up on what she missed.   
On the screen were a man and woman; a husband and wife, and the man was the main suspect in a murder case - Chloe knew that much. However the next scene hit a nerve, taking her completely off guard as she never expected to react in the way she did. The man raised his fist and knocked his wife to the floor, and Chloe felt herself jump. Beca noticed something was wrong and felt herself tense, ready to move if anything happened. With the woman on the floor, her husband came up to her and swung his boot into her stomach. Chloe couldn’t take any more: tears flooded down her face and she cried, “Turn it off! Beca please get rid of it.”   
Beca shut the laptop and threw it to the end of her bed before putting both arms around Chloe and holding her tightly. She could feel her girlfriend shaking and sobbing into her shoulder leaving tear marks on her shirt, and it broke her heart to see her so scared. Beca pulled her closer with one arm whilst lifting her other hand to the back of Chloe’s head and stroking her flame coloured hair in desperate attempts to calm her. “Shhh… It’s okay. You’re alright, I’ve got you,” she soothed.   
It took several minutes before her breathing had returned to normal, but eventually Chloe stopped crying and became less hysterical. Beca didn’t move, she kept holding her and gently stroking her hair until Chloe was ready to pull away. When she did, her face was red and her eyes were glistening with tears, and all she could say was, “Sorry.” Beca shook her head and took Chloe’s hands in her own and said, “Don’t say that. It’s not your fault; I shouldn’t have put it on. I didn’t think. I am so sorry.” The guilt was almost unbearable. She was so angry at herself for being so stupid.   
Seeing the distress in Chloe’s face she continued, “It happened again, didn’t it?” Chloe could only nod. “Why?” Beca pleaded, “You know now that every time you go there he’s going to hurt you.”   
Chloe’s response sparked tears from both of their eyes as she said, “It keeps him occupied. If he hits me, he doesn’t hit my mom.”   
“Show me,” Beca whispered. At first Chloe shook her head in refusal, but after seeing how badly this was affecting her girlfriend she gave in. She lifted up her shirt to reveal the biggest bruise Beca had ever seen spreading across the left side of her ribs. “How bad is it?” Beca asked, referring to the pain. “The worst,” came a whispered response, and her voice cracked as she continued, “I think something’s broken.” Beca had noticed earlier the way that Chloe moved slowly and painfully, and she was kicking herself for not saying something before. “We’ve got to get you to a hospital,” Beca said. As expected Chloe protested, but her heart jumped when the brown haired girl offered herself up yet again as an excuse.  
“They will ask what happened, and I’ll say it was my fault. I tripped and knocked you over into a table. Wait… how many times did he kick you?” Chloe was reluctant to answer, unsure if it would do more harm than good by telling Beca the truth. Urgently Beca squeezed Chloe’s hands and said, “This is important. They’ll be able to tell if we’re lying, so if he kicked you more than once then the table excuse won’t work.” Chloe’s voice was timid as she replied, “I erm… I don’t remember exactly. After about the third kick I just zoned out and prayed for it to stop.”   
Beca felt a lump in her throat form as she struggled to fight back the tears. She let out a slow breath then said, “We were sharing a bed as you were sleeping over mine. I have night terrors, and I lashed out in my sleep. It was an accident, but it was my fault.”   
“You don’t have to do this,” Chloe said, falling more and more in love with Beca each minute. “Yes, I do,” came the reply, “Because you need help. If you have broken any ribs, they need to be fixed and you’re only going to go to hospital if I take the fall for you. Later, we need to stop your dad, because this can’t go on. But for now, I’m going to look after you one step at a time.”  
Chloe leant in and kissed Beca, feeling so unbelievably lucky to have her. “Come on,” Beca said as she helped Chloe to her feet gently, trying not to hurt her. “I’ll be right with you the whole way.”


	4. Chapter Four

The doctor handed over a box of prescription painkillers to Chloe after confirming she had broken one rib and bruised several others. She was to avoid contact sports for 6 weeks, and to do regular breathing exercises to prevent any damage being done to her lungs. The doctor then turned to Beca and said, “As for your night terrors, I would strongly advise against sharing a bed with anyone until you have gone at least one month without experiencing one. Are you sure you don’t want us to refer you to any therapy services?” Beca nodded her head, anxious to get out of the hospital. To her annoyance the doctor continued, “I took the liberty of pulling up your records, and with your previous medical history these night terrors concern me. I really would advise you think twice about therapy.”  
Chloe shot Beca a look, suddenly feeling very concerned. Everything had revolved around her and her problems recently, and she felt selfish for not realising that Beca may have her own crap to deal with. Beca glared at the doctor and said sharply, “I’m fine. Thank you. Now we really have to go, we have a Philosophy class in 20 minutes we can’t miss.” They said goodbye to the doctor and walked down a flight of stairs that led to the exit. In her head Beca silently prayed that her girlfriend didn’t pay attention to anything the doctor said about her previous records, or if she did she wouldn’t bring it up.  
As they walked out the door Beca quickly started up a conversation to divert any attention from her. “Are you going to be okay in rehearsals? I know that he just said no contact sports, but if someone knocks into you…” Chloe insisted she would be fine and felt bad that Beca worried so much, although at the same time she found it quite cute. The conversation managed to stay about Chloe’s ribs the whole journey back to the older girl’s apartment: Aubrey was out that afternoon on a date with her boyfriend Brad, so they would have the place to themselves.   
Chloe put her key in the door and pushed it open. “Aubrey?” she called out just in case her plans had changed. The silence confirmed that the coast was clear, and the two girls walked inside. Chloe threw the box of painkillers on the counter and sauntered into the kitchen. “Do you want a drink?” she called out. Beca walked up behind Chloe and put her arms gently around her waist. “I’m good,” she whispered. Chloe leant back and found comfort in how well their bodies fit together. She tilted her head back to rest it on Beca’s shoulder and her eyes drifted blissfully shut. Warm lips placed a tender kiss on her exposed neck, and she felt a rush of comfort fill her entire body.   
“I could stay like this forever,” Chloe whispered truthfully, and she felt Beca nod in agreement. A few moments passed and reluctantly she moved away, feeling the pain in her ribs urging her to sit down. First, she grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water then followed Beca over to the sofa. As she sat down, she hit the cushions just a bit too hard and the impact jolted her ribs. Chloe cried out and the sudden pain caused her whole body to jump, making her spill the water all over her top. “Shit…” she muttered under her breath, and in an instant Beca was by her side. “Do you need any help?” she asked, trying to give Chloe space. “I’m fine, all that prodding and poking at the hospital has just made the pain ten times worse,” Chloe replied, “I’m going to change my shirt.”   
Beca smiled supportively as Chloe stood up and walked into her bedroom. Several times short cries of pain resonated from the room, but Beca remained outside, not wanting to smother Chloe. She tried to keep her mind off it and flicked on the TV, but soon after she did so a voice came from the bedroom, “Um… Beca? Can you come here please?” Beca was on her feet in a flash and headed straight into the room. In front of her stood Chloe standing awkwardly with her t-shirt slightly lifted up. “I can’t…” she began, but she couldn’t even finish the sentence without wanting to hit herself for being so incapable. Beca saw her struggling to ask for help and spoke up, “Do you want a hand?” Chloe nodded and gave a weak smile.  
“Lift your arms up,” Beca instructed softly, and Chloe complied. She winced in pain as she stretched up and Beca paused to check she was okay. “If it hurts, don’t hide it,” she said. Chloe nodded and so Beca continued, placing her fingertips at the base of the pink top. Slowly she began to lift the shirt upwards, revealing the bruise that pained her girlfriend so badly. She continued to lift it, and eventually the hem of the shirt was resting on Chloe’s collarbone. Chloe stretched to make it easier for the shirt to slide over her arms, but felt an unbearable pain shoot across her ribs. She bit her cheek to hide her agony and felt tears form in her eyes, but after a glare from Beca she admitted, “It really hurts.”  
“Talk to me, try and take your mind off it,” Beca offered as she slowly raised the shirt higher and higher, trying not to stare at the delicate, bright pink bra her girlfriend was wearing. “You’re blushing,” Chloe said, making conversation as a displacement activity. Beca amended her previous advice and said, “Okay, talk about anything but that.” She came to regret saying that as well when Chloe asked, “What did the doctor mean, about your previous medical history?” Beca felt her stomach sink and all the blood rush from her cheeks to her head. She pulled the shirt along Chloe’s forearms and said, “He erm… he was referring to some issues that I had in high school.”   
Unsatisfied with the answer Chloe persisted, “You can tell me. Please, I want to know more about you.” The shirt fell off her wrists as she lowered her arms, and the two girls stood looking in each other’s eyes. Finally, Beca caved and explained, “I spent a short time in hospital for some… self-esteem issues.” Hoping that was enough, she walked over to Chloe’s bed to pick up the clean shirt she already picked out. When she returned, Chloe looked at her so kindly that she felt she could open up for the very first time about this. “After my parents’ divorce, I was pretty messed up. I had really low self-esteem and I was just advised to a hospital therapist to monitor some things.” Beca felt like she had revealed more than enough, and said, “That’s all I want to say,” with a small smile.  
Her eyes were trained on the floor and all her senses were flooded with embarrassment. Chloe put her hand on Beca’s shoulder and said, “I think you’re beautiful.” Beca lifted her head and became lost in those blue eyes that she loved. Snapping out of the trance, she adjusted the new shirt so she could get it on Chloe and said, “Thanks, but you’re the only one who thinks so.” The shirt was a button-up, which made the job of dressing Chloe an awful lot easier. She stood behind her and held out either sleeve, then aided Chloe to guide her arms into them.   
It still hurt as Beca helped her into the shirt, but not as much as it did before. After a few minutes they returned to the living room and Chloe sat down with a lot more caution than before. Beca sat next to her and felt an arm pull her closer. She gingerly rested herself into Chloe’s side – luckily she was on the side without the bruise, and felt warm and safe with Chloe’s arm wrapped around her. Beca placed her right arm around Chloe’s stomach, who was impressed for the second time that day at how well they fit together. They sat in that moment of bliss watching a cooking show on TV, just enjoying being shaped around one another. Nothing could ruin the moment, Chloe thought, nothing at all. She pressed a kiss to her girlfriend’s forehead, when all of a sudden a shrill voice behind them screeched, “Aca-scuse me?!”


	5. Chapter Five

“Aubrey I can explain,” Chloe said hastily as she stood up, but Aubrey wasn’t listening. She had already launched into a full blown rant about how she was always the last to know things, and how stupid she was for thinking it was Cynthia-Rose who batted for the other team, and how out of all the girls available Chloe had to go and pick Beca, who would do nothing for her credibility. On that note she fell silent, realising what she had said. Beca stared at Aubrey taken aback by her audacity, and then walked out of the apartment without so much as a look at Chloe. Remembering the conversation in the bedroom about her self-esteem, Chloe turned to Aubrey and said plainly, “You really shouldn’t have said that.”  
It took a whole night of apologising for Chloe to even consider talking to her flatmate again, and by the morning they were on normal speaking terms again. However Aubrey wasn’t entirely off the hook – she was made to swear never to complain about the relationship again, and definitely never be so rude to Beca again. After the way she stormed out yesterday, Chloe debated whether to go and see Beca that day, but soon decided against it. Instead, she settled for texting her just to check she was alright. Anxiously she waited for a response, but it never came. She glared at Aubrey across the room, worrying that the hot-tempered blonde had ruined one of the best things going in her life.   
Hours passed, hours which were spent on one sole task – staring at her phone hoping Beca would reply. The clock hit 3pm and Aubrey picked up her coat to go to Bella rehearsals. “Are you coming?” she asked. Chloe looked at her with daggers in her eyes, giving Aubrey her answer. “I think Beca and I are excused from rehearsals today, don’t you?” she snapped. Aubrey nodded, accepting her friend’s harsh tone as penance for what she said to Beca. The door shut and Chloe let out a long sigh, giving up on her phone ringing any time soon. With a defeatist attitude she walked into her room to find some work to get on with, but an hour later she still hadn’t done anything. She couldn’t focus, so when her ringtone resonated through the room Chloe thought she was imagining it.  
The tune persisted and coming to her senses Chloe flew across her apartment and pounced on her phone. Without even bothering to look at the caller ID she rammed the phone against her ear and said anxiously, “Hello?” Every cell in her body shook when she was answered not with Beca’s voice, but her father’s. “I need you over here. We’ve run out of shopping – get some on the way.” He hung up without even waiting for his daughter’s response. Subconsciously Chloe put a hand against her healing ribs. Thankfully the pain wasn’t too bad as she’d started on the painkillers the night before, but she couldn’t help but wonder if her father was going to undo all of the work the medication had done.  
Chloe grabbed her purse, coat and keys and walked out of the apartment, bumping into Aubrey on her way, who was just coming back from rehearsals. “Where are you off to?” Aubrey asked, hoping she and Beca had reconciled. To her dismay, Chloe said, “My parent’s,” and kept on walking. She pulled her coat on and wrapped her arms across her chest, trying to keep warm as she stepped into the cold air. Her hands began to shake, but whether it was from the cold or from fear of her destination she didn’t know. In all honesty, she didn’t want to know.   
It was the afternoon when Beca woke up, which was understandable seeing as she had stayed out last night until gone 4am. After Aubrey had made it clear just what she thought of her Beca had left the apartment, but instead of going home she wandered around town for a bit. She stayed out in the cold night for hours until she felt ready to go home. It was a technique she had used for ages when bad things happened. Now, it was mid-afternoon and she lay in bed thinking over the events of the previous night. Aubrey’s voice kept running round and round her head, and she didn’t have the willpower to get out of bed. It was high school all over again. Lazily she reached her phone from her desk and checked the one new message from Chloe.   
Feeling bad for not texting back earlier, she rang Chloe and hoped she didn’t hate her for walking out. “Beca? Oh my god, are you okay? I feel awful about last night, I’ve spoken to Aubrey and she’s admitted she was out of order and she’s really sorry. So am I,” Chloe blurted out the second she answered her phone. “I’m fine,” Beca said, grateful that Chloe had words with the aca-bitch. On the other end of the phone came a lot of noise, so Beca asked, “Where are you?” Chloe hesitated, which wasn’t a good sign at all. Eventually she replied, “I’m just in the shop picking up some bits.” Beca sussed her out in an instant, knowing full well that she had gone shopping for supplies only the other day.  
“You’re going over there aren’t you?” she asked, not really needing an answer. Chloe explained about her dad’s phone call, and Beca felt her stomach sink. She tried to convince her not to go, but it was useless. “Fine, but leave your phone on. Put it in your pocket but leave the line open so I can hear what’s going on and I’ll get help if he goes too far. What’s the street name? I’ll be right down the road but I swear I won’t come to the house unless I have to,” Beca said, and Chloe refused not wanting her girlfriend to hear what her dad was like. Eventually she gave in, and told Beca the street name and said, “You stay in the street. Whatever happens, you stay outside. No matter what you hear, no matter what he does to me you stay outside.”   
Half an hour later, Beca was lingering around Westwood Drive with her phone pressed against her ear. Chloe had already gone in the house and was in the midst of a conversation with her dad about the shopping, and everything was going well. At least it was until Chloe had to explain why she wasn’t able to buy any alcohol because of her age. Beca’s heart rate picked up when she heard over the phone, “You stupid bitch.” Every part of her wanted to run up to the door and burst in before anything got out of hand, but she knew that would probably make things worse.  
It took a moment for her to remember why she wanted to listen to this, but then Beca recalled the fear she felt when she was left imagining the worst. Also, at least this way if Chloe’s dad went too far and knocked her unconscious or worse, Beca would be right down the road. She took in deep breaths when she heard the deep voice shouting at his daughter, but nothing could have prepared her for Chloe’s screams. Unable to bear it any longer, she brought the phone away from her ear and held it by her side. Taking in deep gulps of fresh air, after a few moments she returned the device to her ear and clenched down on her jaw.  
She felt so helpless and tears spilled down her cheeks, which she quickly brushed away reminding herself that she had to be the strong one. Suddenly amid the screams she heard Chloe cry, “Beca!” Her feet took off and she stopped a few doors down to listen on the phone. The only sound she could hear was Chloe quietly sobbing and saying, “No,” over and over again. Then, there was a loud cracking noise followed by a scream and Beca felt her stomach churn. Moments away from running to her girlfriend’s aid, she was stopped when she heard the man say, “Get out.” She heard Chloe clamber to her feet and open the front door, then hung up when she came into sight.   
Chloe reached the street corner out of sight of the house, and Beca came running up to her. She stood there with a bloody nose and a tear stained face, but still she insisted she was fine. “What was the cracking noise?” Beca asked, and Chloe held up two swollen fingers. She sniffed and said, “Don’t worry; I don’t think they’re broken. I can move them a tiny bit.” Beca tenderly took them in her hand and said, “It’s probably just a sprain or small fracture. Do you want to go to the hospital?” Chloe shook her head with determination, and the two girls headed back to Beca’s dorm.   
Thankfully Kimmy Jin was out with friends as usual, so the place was empty. The two girls stood by the sink, wiping the blood away from Chloe’s face. Then, Beca fetched two plasters and some cotton wool. She placed the cotton wool in between the two fingers before strapping them together with the plasters and admitted, “I don’t know if this will work. I fractured my fingers a couple of years back and this is what the doctors did to me.” Chloe nodded then went to sit on Beca’s bed. Both girls knew that her injuries weren’t too bad compared to what could have happened, but Chloe was still shaken up. “Can I stay here with you tonight? I just feel safer when you’re around,” she asked. Beca nodded, and then walked over to sit next to her girlfriend. She brushed a lock of flame behind Chloe’s ear then rested her hand on her cheek. “We’ve got to stop this,” she said, and to her surprise Chloe nodded. Beca placed a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose, and then stood up to find an extra set of pyjamas for the night.


	6. Chapter Six

Beca woke abruptly in the middle of the night as something violently thrashed against her and cried out. At first everything was a sleepy blur and she tried to fight off whoever was annoyingly waking her so early, but as her eyes focused and she came round she saw her attacker was in fact Chloe. She instantly became alert and tried to stop the thrashing fist that was headed her way. It was too late as she felt Chloe’s hard knuckles crash into her face and it wasn’t long until she could taste blood in her mouth. “Chloe, wake up!” Beca called out, but it had no effect whatsoever. As she tried to pin down her arms, Beca noticed Kimmy Jin get out of bed and say, “Seriously Beca, don’t invite your weird friends over. I want to sleep,” and she left the room to go and stay with someone else for that night.  
Beca scoffed at how inconsiderate her roommate was, and then turned her mind back to Chloe who was only getting more and more distressed. She was covered in sweat, her face was full of pain, and she was desperately lashing out with her arms and legs at whoever was troubling her in the nightmare. “Chloe!” Beca shouted as she tried to wake her. Realising that there was only one way to pin down both her girlfriends arms and legs at the same time, she swung one leg over Chloe so she had a leg either side of her and sat down on the upper part of her kicking legs. They wrestled as Beca tried to hold her arms down, and the more successful she was the more pained Chloe seemed to become.  
It was necessary, Beca told herself. She had to wake her, and she thought she was finally victorious when all of a sudden a fist crashed into her face again, leaving a stinging sensation in her left eye. Enough was enough, and Beca grabbed Chloe’s arms above her head and rammed them into the bed. “Wake up!” she cried, desperate to pull her out of the nightmare. Eventually her body fell still and her eyes opened, full of panic and confusion. Beca released Chloe’s arms and rested a hand on her cheek, stroking it with the pad of her thumb. “I’ve got you,” she soothed, and once Chloe had calmed slightly she placed a tender kiss on her forehead then got out of bed.  
She flicked a switch on the wall filling the room with light, and returned to the side of the bed. Beca crouched down so she was eye level with Chloe, who was wiping away tears with shaky hands. She reached up and took Chloe’s hands in her own, and instantly they stilled. “How long has this been happening?” Beca asked as she wiped away new tears from her girlfriend’s face. “Ever since he first hit me,” Chloe croaked, “I’ve hardly slept. I manage to get a couple of hours each night, but then…” she trailed off. She turned her head and looked directly in Beca’s eyes and pleaded, “I’m so tired Beca.”   
“I know,” Beca replied and cradled Chloe’s face in her hand. Chloe nuzzled against the soothing hand, and then began to sit up realising how disgusting and sweaty she felt. “I’m going to go have a shower,” she said. Beca nodded then wandered over to the sink as Chloe gathered up a towel. Feeling blood still gathering in her mouth from when she was caught by Chloe’s fist, Beca spat into the sink. Realising what she had done, Chloe appeared at her side and said, “Oh my god, are you okay? Did I hit you?” Beca nodded, but waved it off trying not to induce any feelings of guilt. As Chloe began apologising profusely, Beca took her by the hands and said, “I’m fine, honestly. Go and have your shower, then come and get some sleep.”   
Chloe left and Beca grabbed some new bed sheets from the cupboard. She proceeded to remake the bed, discarding the old, sweaty sheets in the laundry basket. Time passed, and eventually Beca started to worry. Surely it didn’t take that long to have a shower, she thought. She gave Chloe a few more minutes, and when there was still no sign of her she left for the showers to check if anything was wrong. She opened the doors, and peeked in. “Chloe?” she called out, hearing water running. There was no response, so she repeated herself a little louder. Still there was no reply, so Beca walked round the corner and saw Chloe collapsed on the floor. She hadn’t even made it into the shower before collapsing, as her body was dry and she still had her underwear on.  
Instantly Beca turned off the shower and knelt next to the limp body on the floor. She began to shake Chloe by the shoulder as she repeatedly called her name. Slowly she opened her eyes, and Beca let out a sigh of relief. “Can you stand up?” she asked, but her question was answered when Chloe remained on the floor after a failed effort to pull herself up. Beca reached over to the bench and grabbed the pyjamas sitting on the side. Completely unembarrassed by her girlfriend’s naked upper body, Beca pulled the pyjama top over her head and guided her arms through the holes. Chloe’s eyes drifted shut again as she rested her head on Beca’s shoulder. Worrying something was majorly wrong; Beca didn’t bother with the pyjama trousers and attempted to lift Chloe into her arms.  
Cursing her weak strength Beca remained on the floor and wrapped her arms protectively around Chloe, but then she heard someone walking down the corridor. “Hello!” she called out, “Can you help us!” After a pause the footsteps seemed to be getting louder, and Beca whispered into Chloe’s ear, “Someone’s coming, it’s going to be okay,” and she placed a kiss on the top of her head. Seconds later Fat Amy came in through the door and said, “Holy shit, what happened?” Hurriedly Beca explained how she had found Chloe collapsed, and that she knew she hadn’t been sleeping well recently. Fat Amy pressed her hand against Chloe’s forehead and said, “She’s fine, she’s just exhausted. If she hasn’t been sleeping; combine that with Aubrey’s strict training scheme and it’s no wonder she collapsed. Come on; let’s get her out of here.”  
Beca watched as Fat Amy scooped Chloe up in her arms, and was impressed as she carried her effortlessly out of the shower room. She turned right to head for Chloe’s apartment, assuming that’s where she had come from, but Beca stopped her and said, “Why don’t you bring her to my room? She can sleep in my bed, and it’s less far for you to carry her.” Fat Amy agreed it was a good idea, and Beca thought she had got away with it until a few steps later Amy said, “She was staying at yours in the first place, wasn’t she?” Astounded, Beca looked at her in shock and stuttered a nondescript response. “Don’t worry,” Fat Amy continued, “I know about you and her, you’re not exactly great at hiding it in rehearsals. For the record, I think you’re good together. She’s good for you, and you’re good for her. But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”  
The next few moments were spent in a shocked silence, but as they approached the room Beca said, “Thanks, for helping. And for not telling anyone about us.” She opened the door, and Fat Amy placed Chloe softly on the bed before covering her with the duvet. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, “I was voted best secret keeper in Tasmania,” and she tapped her nose before walking out. Beca pulled up her desk chair to the side of the bed and watched Chloe sleep for a while, admiring just how beautiful she really was. The way how even as she was sleeping, her hair seemed to fall perfectly in place; how her lips were the pinkest of pink, even without makeup. Beca sat in the chair and forced herself to keep her eyes open for as long as she could, ready to sooth Chloe back to sleep if she had another nightmare. Eventually, she was too tired and her eyes drifted peacefully shut.


	7. Chapter Seven

Twelve hours later it was mid-afternoon, and Beca returned from her Philosophy class just as Chloe began to stir. She sat up in bed and blearily asked, “Wh-what time is it?” Beca dumped her bag on the floor and replied, “Nearly 4pm. You’re just in time; Aubrey’s called an emergency Bella meeting in ten minutes.” Chloe groaned and reluctantly rolled out of bed. She looked down at her attire and noticed she was only wearing a pyjama shirt and her underwear, and said, “What happened? I swear I had bottoms on last night?”   
“You collapsed in the shower room. Fat Amy carried you back here,” Beca explained. Chloe panicked and asked, “Does she know about us?” Beca nodded, but then explained how Amy had sworn to keep it a secret. They got ready for rehearsal and headed out, complaining all the way. They approached the hall, mentally preparing for whatever lecture or workout they faced from Aubrey for the next two hours. “Come on girls, you’re late!” Aubrey’s shrill voice rang out across the room. They hurried to their seats and the blonde continued, “This is only a brief meeting, but I needed to tell you about the fundraiser I have scheduled tomorrow. Now I know I had reservations about it at first, but I’ve managed to arrange a bikini car wash at Sigma Beta Theta tomorrow. Here are the outfits: just grab your size.”  
Half an hour later after a brief class in how to act at a bikini car wash, Beca was walking out with the rest of the Bellas, holding a pair of short shorts in one hand and a bikini top in the other. Chloe approached her, but before she could say anything Beca said, “I have to get to the radio station. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She walked off, leaving Chloe standing alone. Worrying that she had done something wrong, she retreated to her own apartment to get on with work. As always, she kept her phone by her side just in case Beca text her.  
The next day there was still no word from her, so Chloe decided to go over Beca’s before the bikini car wash. She put on the shorts and covered the bruise on her ribcage as best as she could with make-up, and then pulled a top over the bikini and left. When she arrived, she knocked on the door and heard from inside, “Just a minute!” A few moments later the door opened and Beca stood in front of her, wearing tracksuit bottoms and a thick-striped yellow and black jumper. “What are you doing?” Chloe asked confused as to why Beca was looking so relaxed and homely. “I’m not going,” came the reply as she walked further into her room, inviting Chloe in. “What do you mean?!” Chloe panicked, “Aubrey’s going to kill you if you don’t turn up!”  
“I’d rather have a lecture from Aubrey than wear… that,” Beca replied and gestured to the outfit on the bed. After a lot of protesting, Chloe eventually convinced her to at least try the clothes on. She turned around to allow Beca privacy as she changed, and when she turned back Beca was wearing the shorts but she had a hoodie over the top of the bikini. “I can’t do it,” she protested, “I refuse to stand in front of people wearing so little. I can cope with the shorts because they’re not much shorter than those awful skirts we have to wear, but the bikini top is too far.” Chloe took several slow steps towards Beca, starting to figure out what the whole thing was about.  
Remembering how Beca had opened up to her about the issues she faced in high school, Chloe said, “Beca… you have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re beautiful.” Beca merely climbed onto her bed and shook her head, giving up. Unwilling to let it slide, Chloe reached out and grabbed both of her hands, pulling her onto her feet again. “Trust me,” she said, placing a gentle kiss on Beca’s lips. Still seeing doubt in her girlfriend’s eyes, Chloe leant forward again, this time kissing her a lot more deeply, more passionately. “I think you’re more than beautiful,” she said in between kisses, and slowly placed her hands at the base of Beca’s hoodie.  
They stopped kissing and pulled apart slightly, but their eyes were still only millimetres apart. “You’re sexy,” Chloe continued as she lifted the hoodie past Beca’s waist. “You’re stunning,” she said as the bikini became visible. Slowly she lifted up Beca’s arms and pulled the hoodie completely away from her body. “And I can’t keep my eyes off you,” Chloe finished as she leaned in for a longer, sweeter kiss. Their lips touched and Beca felt all of her insecurities disappear as she rested her hands at the back of Chloe’s neck.  
Chloe placed her hands on the base of Beca’s back, gently pulling her closer. She loved the feel of her bare skin as she tenderly ran her fingers up and down her girlfriend’s spine. Beca took Chloe’s lower lip between her teeth briefly, which Chloe responded to by placing her hands at the back of the shorter girl’s thighs and lifting her into the air. She carried her over to the bed, and sat down bringing Beca onto her lap. A sharp knock at the door made both girls jump and Beca fell harshly on the floor. “Beca!” Aubrey’s voice rang out. “I expect you to see you downstairs in two minutes!” The clip-clop of heels retreated down the corridor and Beca sighed. “Come on,” she said standing up, “Let’s not keep her waiting.”  
The car wash wasn’t as bad as Beca thought it would be, although in all honesty it was Chloe who kept her going. Every now and then she would shoot her a wink encouraging her to keep going, before turning around to direct the hot and flustered SBT boys away from her and towards the money buckets. Stacey was their biggest money earner, probably because she had purposely chosen a bikini that was 2 sizes too small for her. After 5 gruelling hours of work, they had raised enough money to go to Regionals, and so Beca and Chloe retreated to Chloe’s apartment.  
On the way they briefly stopped by Beca’s dorm so she could grab a toothbrush, planning to stay the night at Chloe’s. “I won’t be here tonight,” Beca called out to Kimmy Jin who didn’t respond, but Beca knew she’d be jumping for joy inside. They reached the apartment and Chloe headed straight for the phone to order pizza. Beca sat on the sofa next to Aubrey, and the two sat there in an awkward silence waiting for Chloe to come over and break the ice. “Pizza’s on the way,” she said as she sat down in between her best friend and her girlfriend, and put her arm around Beca’s shoulders as Aubrey put on the TV. Several hours and two pizzas later they were halfway into an episode of House, much to Aubrey’s annoyance, when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Aubrey said and walked to the door. She opened it and was faced with a man she had never seen before in her life.   
“I’m here for Beca,” the man said, and Beca jumped out of her seat as Aubrey tactfully slid out of the front door, giving them some privacy. Chloe began to worry when she saw the look of panic on Beca’s face. “Daddy what are you doing here?” she asked as she walked cautiously towards him. Her dad was a professor at the university, and after his attempt to greet her at the start of term he only sought her out if something was wrong. “Your friend Kimmy Jin told me I could find you here,” he said, and Beca noticed a letter clutched in his hand. “Well you found me,” she said, “So what do you want?”   
He held up the piece of paper and lightly shook it as he explained, “Your mother forwarded me a letter this morning. It’s a few months old, they still used my old address – I was supposed to get it when you started here: when you were signed off from the service.” As he mentioned ‘the service’ Beca knew what it was about, and she tried to cut him off before he revealed everything to Chloe. Unfortunately, he just ignored the interruptions and continued, “This is a full report from your therapist letting us know everything about the progress you made and why she was signing you off. She included a detailed report of how you were when she first started seeing you.” He scoffed and Beca’s heart sank. Only Beca’s mum knew the real reason why she was in hospital for 30 days, and even she didn’t know the whole truth about why she continued to see a therapist once she was discharged. Now there was a detailed account of everything she had ever discussed in her ‘sessions’. “That’s supposed to be confidential,” Beca said through gritted teeth.   
“Well I guess she thought that now you’re signed off from her, it was safe to tell us everything. I can’t believe how you lied to me! I thought those 30 days in hospital were because of stress! I thought the only reason why you saw Doctor McLaren afterwards was because of your mother and me divorcing. I had no idea about the… the…”  
“The what, dad?!” Beca shouted loudly, “The suicide? The fact that I didn’t think I had a future, and I didn’t have anyone who loved me so I actually resorted to slitting my wrist?”  
“I loved you Beca. Your mom and I both love you.”  
“No you don’t! You only love the step-monster. If you really loved me, you would have noticed me when I needed you to notice me! Not at the last minute when you finally get a letter from some stupid doctor!” Beca screamed and held her hands to her head. She had come to college to leave everything behind, and the last thing she needed was her dad storming in like this and thinking he had the right to be annoyed at her. As if she had read her mind, Chloe stood up and said, “I think you need to leave, Mr Mitchell.” Admitting defeat, he threw the letter on the floor and walked out. Putting her arms protectively around Beca, Chloe said, “Come on – let’s go to bed. It’s late.” She had a million and one questions about everything that had just happened, but she decided now wasn’t the time, and Beca would talk about it when she was ready.  
They didn’t even bother changing into pyjamas before climbing into bed, and for some reason that even she didn’t know Beca picked up the letter from the floor before heading into Chloe’s room. Chloe was sitting upright in bed with the duvet over her lap and her back resting against the wall. Beca mimicked her, and they just sat there for a while in each other’s company. Much to Chloe’s surprise, Beca was the first one to bring up the topic of her father’s outburst. “I erm… I didn’t quite expect for you to find out like that. I’m sorry.” Chloe shook her head, placed a kiss against Beca’s forehead and said, “You don’t ever have to apologise to me. Especially not about that. So, did the therapist help you?”  
Beca shook her head and said, “No. I saw her for months, and I hated her. But the deal was I either saw her or went back into hospital.”  
“How did you get her to sign you off?”  
“I figured out that the only way I would get better was without her, so I stopped listening to her advice and started to take my own. Then, I gradually told her I was fine and a lot better, so she signed me off just before I came here.”  
“And are you better?” Chloe asked hopefully.  
“I am. I just needed to get away from everything, and coming here was exactly what I needed.” Suddenly feeling guilty about the attention being on her, Beca continued, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you all of this – you’ve got your own stuff to worry about. I’m supposed to be here for you.”  
“Don’t be ridiculous, everyone has their own stuff going on. You deserve a night where I look after you for once,” Chloe said, and then taking a risk she gestured to the letter in Beca’s hands and said, “May I?” Beca shrugged nonchalantly and handed it over. She surprised herself at how open was being. For some reason she didn’t mind handing over the letter that depicted her in some of her worst moments to the very person she wanted to impress. But she knew that Chloe wouldn’t judge her, and she in a way she actually liked the thought of Chloe knowing more about her.  
As you may know, Beca was presenting earlier this year with concerns about mood changes and significant low self-esteem. She had previously spent time in hospital due to a suicide attempt, and was still presenting signs of suicidal ideation. She revealed that she liked imagining that she could ‘disappear’ when the girls at school taunted her about her weight, hairstyle, sexual orientation, and facial appearance. One particular concern was that during times of distress, Beca would trace the scar on her wrist with her thumb. This is one issue she was unable to overcome.  
Chloe couldn’t read any further, and turned to Beca. “I had no idea… I’d seen you rubbing the skin underneath your bracelets before, but I just thought they were irritating you. Is that why you wear them? To hide the scar?” Beca nodded, and took a deep breath before sliding all of her bracelets off. It was a big deal – she hadn’t even seen the scar in months. It was too triggering, so she just hid it underneath a pile of bracelets. It ran vertically up her wrist for a couple of inches, and tears formed in Chloe’s eyes as she gently ran one finger along it. “Don’t cry,” Beca warned, “I’ve got over it, so you shouldn’t get upset about it.” Chloe nodded and smiled, trying to be strong. Then she continued, “I knew you were self-conscious, but I had no idea…”  
“I’m not self-conscious, I’m realistic,” Beca explained, and Chloe’s heart broke. Fair enough, Beca did seem to be genuinely okay where suicide was concerned and Chloe accepted that was no longer a worry – it was a bad time from her past that she would rather forget. But the self-criticism was very much in the present, and it was heart-breaking to witness. “Why? What on earth could be wrong with you?” Chloe asked, genuinely confused as to what could be negative about her girlfriend’s appearance. Beca laughed and said, “What’s right with me would give you a shorter answer. What’s wrong with me is that I’m too big in some places then too small in others; my hair is horrible and my eyes are an ugly colour; my legs are a weird shape; my nose has a small bump in it; my eyebrows are too dark; my-…” Chloe silenced her by placing her hand sideways across Beca’s whole mouth.   
“Do you want to know what I see?” Chloe said, “And you know I won’t be lying, because I’m an awful liar.” Giving in, Beca looked at her and waited to hear the shortest list of compliments ever. “Your hair is really soft and always smells really nice, like strawberries.” Beca smirked, but ignoring her Chloe continued, “Your eyes are these beautiful, deep blue colours that have these darker tinges around the middle that make a really cool pattern. Your legs are absolutely hypnotising; the bump in your nose is hardly noticeable, and even if I do notice it I get distracted by your eyes, because they glint sometimes like you know something I don’t. Your eyebrows aren’t too dark, they match the colour of your hair perfectly and they always have a perfect shape.”  
“Your lips,” Chloe said and then leaned in so their lips met. She pulled away and continued, “They’re shaped just like cupid’s bow, which makes sense because every time I kiss you I fall more and more in love with you.” She leaned in again, as if to test her theory before continuing, “They’re really soft, and a pretty shade of pink. Your body is not too big or too small: it fits perfectly next to mine so when I hug you, every inch of your body is touching mine. And do you know something?”  
“What?” Beca asked, held in a trance as she looked into Chloe’s eyes.  
“I love you.”  
A smile spread across Chloe’s face, and Beca’s mouth seemed to copy.   
“I love you too.”


	8. Chapter Eight

Chloe woke up to the sound of her phone ringing, and the warmth of Beca in her arms. She felt Beca stir at the noise and she turned round so they were face to face. “Mmm make it stop,” she groaned sleepily, and Chloe reached across her to pick up her phone. She saw her dad’s number on caller ID, and hung up. “Who was it?” Beca asked as she nuzzled into Chloe’s neck. “Wrong number,” she replied, deciding that this moment was too perfect to ruin and was worth facing the consequences later. “Good,” Beca said as she wrapped her arms around Chloe’s waist, “Because I love lying here next to you.”  
Chloe pulled Beca closer so their bodies fit perfectly together and placed a kiss on top of her forehead. “I love it too.” Just as her eyes started to drift shut again, the moment of bliss was disrupted by the phone ringing a second time. “Maybe you should answer it baby…” Beca said, placing her lips tenderly against Chloe’s neck. Accepting that he would keep ringing until she answered, Chloe answered the phone and brought it up to her ear. “Hello?” she said. “Chloe, I haven’t seen you in a while. Come over, say hello to your old man,” and just like that he hung up without even waiting for a response. “Was it a wrong number?” Beca asked. Chloe nodded, and then snuggled further into her girlfriend’s arms searching for safety.  
Eventually they dragged themselves out of bed and walked into the kitchen to find some breakfast. Chloe’s phone rang a third time and Beca said, “Seriously? Who dials the wrong number that many times?” Chloe laughed, but still picked up. She wandered into the living room hoping to be out of Beca’s earshot as she listened to her dad’s voice on the other end of the phone, “Where are you? I expected you to be here by now.” She replied in a quiet tone and explained that she’d be there soon, and then hung up. “Who was that?” Beca called out from the kitchen. “Wrong number… again,” Chloe said. Suddenly Beca turned around and asked, “Really? You said that you’d be over soon, to a wrong number?”  
Struggling to come up with a believable lie, Chloe let out an exasperated sigh and confessed, “It was my dad. I’ve got to go over there.” Beca’s eyes widened and she stared at Chloe, waiting for her to finish the sentence and explain that she wasn’t going to go. When she remained silent, Beca said defiantly, “I’m coming with you.” Chloe shook her head and began to protest, but she was cut off by the fiery brunette, “Listen, either I come with you or you don’t go at all.” After some consideration, Chloe picked up her phone again and rang her dad back. “Hey dad, my friend Beca’s going to come with me over to yours. She’s a really good friend and I told her about your music collection, I hope that’s okay?”   
Beca looked on hopefully as Chloe nodded a few times, said ‘okay’ several more times, and then hung up. “He said it is fine – he thinks you’re coming over because I told you he has a stack of CD’s and vinyl discs,” Chloe explained, and Beca breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully, as long as she was in the house Chloe would be safe. Not wanting to keep him any longer and shorten his temper, they hurriedly got changed and headed out to Westwood Drive.   
Nerves plagued both their minds as Chloe raised a shaky fist and knocked on the door. A man in his mid-50’s opened the door and invited them both in with a smile. “It’s lovely to meet you Mr Beale,” Beca said politely and shook his hand. He grinned, and instantly whisked her into the living room to show off his vast music collection. Chloe silently followed behind, crossing her fingers and hoping that everything would go smoothly. Once they had exhausted every possible conversation about music Chloe spoke up and said, “Well we better head back to campus. It was great to see you dad, I’ll pop by again soon.” Beca said her farewells and thanked him for his hospitality, and both girls raised their hopes as it seemed as though they would get away without any trouble.  
Just as they stood up, Mr Beale returned pleasantries with Beca and said, “Before you go Chloe, can you just help me lift some bags upstairs? Your old man’s back isn’t what it used to be.” Knowing exactly where this was headed, Beca offered to help as well, but the offer was rejected. As Chloe and her father left the room, Beca sat there anxiously in silence, waiting for their return. Her heart was pounding as she walked up the stairs behind her father, but Chloe was determined to stay strong. They reached the top of the stairs, and her dad launched into a rant about how he knew she had missed some of her classes recently.   
Just when she thought she’d get away with a lecture and nothing more, he rammed her into the bannister and she felt a searing pain in her ribs. Before she could make any noise, her dad ordered, “Now get downstairs,” and she complied. Smiling, she walked back into the room where Beca was and said it was time to go. They left soon after, and as they walked down the road Beca asked, “What happened? Are you okay?” Chloe silently nodded, but as she was frequently told – she was an awful liar. Finally cracking under the pressure of Beca’s glares, she admitted, “He found out that I had skipped some of my classes, and he got a bit annoyed. That’s all.” Beca didn’t buy it, and continued to stare her down until she elaborated, “He only hit me once. But it was in the same place where my ribs are still healing up, so it had the desired effect.”  
“Chloe…” Beca said with her voice full of concern. Tears began to form in Chloe’s eyes from the pain, no matter how hard she tried to fight them back. “I’m fine,” she insisted, “Come on, there’s an acapella party tonight and I intend to forget all about this and have fun.” Eventually Beca gave in, and as they reached campus they went their separate ways to get ready before the party. Several hours and dozens of outfits later, Chloe left with Aubrey for the party which was held in the same place as aca-initiation night, and Beca dragged herself out of her dorm with the same intentions.  
It wasn’t long before Aubrey left Chloe’s side to hover around the Bella’s, monitoring their behaviour, and Chloe walked over to the drinks table and filled up her cup with an incredibly strong tasting ‘punch’. Beca soon joined her, already tipsy. “You might want to be careful with that punch,” Beca warned, “I’ve only had 3 cups and you’re already a tiiiny bit blurry.” Chloe laughed, and downed a whole cup in one go. After receiving a wary look from Beca she said, “What? I’ve had a bad day – I need to forget a few things.” Beca poured herself another cup of punch, but made a mental note to keep an eye on Chloe the whole night.  
Towards the end of the party everyone was ridiculously drunk, but Chloe at least had her wish – she had completely forgotten all about the pain in her side and the earlier events of the day. She was sitting next to Beca, and she attempted to stand up but soon returned to her seat when everything swayed just a bit too much. They were incredibly close, and both found it too hard to resist as Chloe leant in and kissed Beca firmly on the lips. They were interrupted as one of the Treble Makers walked by and cheered at the sight of two Bella girls making out. Chloe merely laughed, knowing full well that the guy wouldn’t remember a thing by the morning. She stood up, this time keeping her balance, and said, “I’m off to dance, want to come?” Beca shook her head, knowing that she would be much better off sitting down. Plus, she liked watching Chloe attempt to remain upright as she headed towards the dance area.  
Beca was drunk, but definitely not as drunk as Chloe. She looked on as Chloe bounced around with Fat Amy, whooping and cheering as they danced. Some Trebles slid up to them, which Amy relished in. Chloe merely humoured them, but Beca could tell that she was getting agitated when Bumper wouldn’t back off. She ended up bouncing between Bumper and Donald, and Beca stood up feeling her protective instincts kick in. All of a sudden, Donald put his arms out to catch Chloe, but ended up missing and hitting her in the ribs instead. Chloe doubled over in pain, and Beca ran towards her.   
“I’m fine,” she said as Beca approached, not wanting to worry her and ruin her night. But Beca chose not to listen and guided Chloe a safe distance away from the party. They stood still for a moment as Chloe took in some deep breaths, trying to breathe through the pain. The adrenaline of the pain and panic made both the girls sober up slightly, which was gratefully received. “Are you okay?” Beca asked, and Chloe put on a brave face and nodded, still clutching her ribcage. “I just feel a bit…” she began, but instead of finishing the sentence Chloe returned to her deep breathing. “Feel a bit what?” Beca persisted, really starting to worry. “Chloe, you’re really pale. I think I should take you home.”  
Chloe just stood there, bent over slightly and taking deep breaths in. Beca reached out and placed her hand on Chloe’s face, urging her to make eye contact. “Something’s really not right. I need to get you home,” she said, but before she could respond Chloe backed away and started coughing violently. She put her hands in front of her mouth, but pulled them away when she felt a warm liquid spread across her palms. “Oh my god,” Beca panicked, “That’s blood. You’re coughing up blood.”   
She called 911 and listened intently for the sirens when Chloe only got worse. Just as the ambulance pulled up, she collapsed to the ground. Beca fell to her knees and scooped Chloe up in her arms. “Wake up!” she yelled. The paramedics ran over, attracting some attention from people at the party. As the paramedics asked for Chloe’s details, Beca rattled it all off with a shaky voice and tears in her eyes as she followed them into the back of the ambulance. They were at the hospital in minutes, and Beca explained quickly about the bruise on Chloe’s ribs and how Donald knocked into her at the party. The doctors rushed Chloe through double doors and ordered Beca to stay in the waiting room.  
Not knowing what else to do, she called Fat Amy and tried to explain over the phone what had happened. But she was too upset, and all Amy could understand from the conversation was that she was at the hospital. She must have broken several speed limits, Beca thought to herself when Amy appeared in the waiting room less than ten minutes later. “What’s happened twiggy?” she asked, “Did Chloe collapse again?” Beca shook her head, and took a while to calm down before explaining that she had hurt her rib, and before she knew it Chloe was coughing up blood. Not knowing what to do or say, Fat Amy sat down next to Beca and handed her a tissue.  
They sat in silence for hours until a doctor walked in the room. Beca leapt out of her seat and said, “What is it? Is she okay? Can I see her? Is she awake?” Amy put her hand on Beca’s arm, silencing her and allowing the doctor to speak. “As I understand it, Chloe had an injury to her ribcage that was healing quite nicely. But after the incident at the party, one of her ribs, which was already very weak, broke and punctured one of her lungs which is why she was coughing up blood.”  
Tears streamed down Beca’s face and he continued, “She’s out of surgery; she’s okay; she’s conscious; but she is very tired and run down. We also had to put her on an IV to drain the alcohol from her system.” Beca looked at Fat Amy in desperation, and she supportively said, “You go see her and I’ll stay here and ring Aubrey.” Beca nodded gratefully and followed the doctor out of the room. He led her up to Chloe’s room, and then left to give them privacy. Beca walked in, but was too distraught to say anything. “Hey, there you are,” Chloe said and smiled weakly. Tears spilled from Beca’s eyes as she walked up to the bed and began rambling through an apology about how she should never have let her go to see her dad. “Hey,” Chloe soothed and reached up to wipe the tears away from her girlfriends face, pulling her to sit down on the bed.  
“It wasn’t your fault,” she explained, and continued to stroke Beca’s cheek with her thumb, even though the tears were all gone. “I’m not letting you go over there again,” Beca said; ready to fight her hardest in order to make sure she got her wish. Unexpectedly, Chloe agreed. “I don’t want to go over there again, but what about my mom? If he’s not hitting me, he’s hitting her.” Beca bit down on her own lip and thought for a while before saying confidently, “Don’t you worry about that. We’ll sort something out, now you have to just rest.”  
Chloe nodded faintly, and Beca leant over and placed a very soft kiss on her nose. “You can kiss me properly you know, it might even help me feel better,” Chloe said teasingly. Beca placed her hands either side of Chloe’s face, and leant in making their lips meet. She felt Chloe smile beneath the kiss, and her heart warmed at the reassurance that she was okay. They pulled apart but rested their foreheads against one another, not wanting to be too far apart at any time. “Can you stay here tonight?” Chloe asked hopefully. Before Beca could reply, they moved apart as Aubrey walked into the room and took a sharp breath in, obviously upset. She said some comforting words, and then explained, “I rang your parents and your dad said he can drive you home tomorrow.”  
“What?” Beca and Chloe said at the same time.  
“Calm down,” Aubrey explained, “He’s just worried. It’s not like he’s making you live with your parents again, which I would completely understand. He’s just driving you back to our apartment and checking you’re okay.”  
Checking she keeps her mouth shut more like, Beca thought.


	9. Chapter Nine

Beca paced up and down her dorm room, tapping her phone against her hand. She had left the hospital first thing in the morning so as she could get to her Philosophy class, which she hadn’t been able to focus in whatsoever. Now she was back in her dorm, waiting for a phone call from Chloe to say that she had got back home okay. “Can you stop pacing? It’s really annoying,” Kimmy Jin said, and Beca rolled her eyes before picking up her coat and leaving. She walked around campus to clear her head, but it didn’t work. Unable to take it anymore, she scrolled down the contacts on her phone and pressed Chloe’s name.   
Eventually she picked up, and Beca tried to act calm as she said, “Hey, are you home yet?” Chloe stuttered through her reply, “Erm… yeah I am. I’m okay though… Don’t come over… I just want to relax for a bit…” Unconvinced but not wanting to smother her girlfriend, Beca accepted and Chloe agreed to text if she needed anything. Not knowing what else to do with her time, Beca headed over to the radio station to be left alone with her thoughts as she stacked CD’s.  
After two hours of stacking, her mind was still on the subject of Chloe Beale. She kept on playing over their earlier conversation in her mind, trying to think of how Chloe sounded; what tone she used; what words she stuttered on. Giving up, she left the radio station and wandered back to her dorm as night began to fall. She groaned as she walked in to see Kimmy Jin and her ‘study group’ spreading their work across both of the beds in the room. “Can you tell your friends to leave? I want to sleep,” Beca said flatly. She was answered with silence and angry stares from everyone in the room. Sensing that her presence was more than unwelcome, she turned on her heels and retreated back outside.   
Trying to figure out what to do with her time, she wandered across the pavement and bumped into Aubrey. “Hey! How’s Chloe?” she asked eagerly. Aubrey looked full of confusion and furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at Beca. “She told me she was meeting you back the apartment. She text me telling me to meet up with Brad tonight as you wanted the apartment to yourselves. I thought you’d be there by now, are you running late?” Beca nodded before sprinting off towards the apartment. She checked her phone to see if Chloe genuinely had text her inviting her round, but her inbox was empty.   
Out of breath she reached the door to Chloe’s apartment and banged her fist against it three times. “Chloe are you there? It’s Beca, open up!” she called out, her mind running through all the possibilities of things that could have happened. Suddenly the door swung open, and standing in the doorway was a very drunk Chloe holding a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels. She walked into the apartment and Beca followed. Only when they reached the living room did Beca notice the dark bruise under Chloe’s left eye. “What happened?” she asked with a soft voice. Taking another swig of the strong whiskey Chloe said, “I don’t exactly know, and I don’t care.” Beca reached for the bottle and attempted to wrestle it out of her drunken hands. “No!” Chloe cried, “Let me drink it!”  
Finally Beca managed to pull the bottle from her grasp, and tipped the contents down the sink. Chloe began crying and shouting, “Why did you do that?! It helps me forget! Why won’t you let me forget what he does to me?!” Beca walked back over to her girlfriend and grabbed her by the wrists. Before she could talk some sense into Chloe, the flame-haired girl pulled away and stormed to the bathroom. Not wanting to let her out of her sight, Beca followed only to have the door slammed in her face. She pressed her ear against the door and listened intently to try and figure out what Chloe was doing. A cabinet opened, and she heard Chloe fumbling with something rattling in her hands. Suddenly panicking with the realisation of what the rattling noise was, Beca rammed her body against the door and tried to break it down.  
Eventually after several tries, the weak lock gave way and Beca stumbled into the bathroom. Just as she expected, Chloe stood there crying and trying to open a bottle of tablets. “Leave me alone!” she cried as Beca tried to take them away from her trembling hands. Beca succeeded and threw the bottle out of the room, and before Chloe could run after it she slammed the door shut and blocked the way. “You did it!” Chloe screamed, “You slit your wrist! You tried to end it, so why won’t you let me!” Her words really hit a nerve, and knowing exactly how Chloe felt Beca threw her arms around her and refused to let go.  
Chloe shook and sobbed violently in her arms, but eventually she stilled and her body went limp. Beca eased them both onto the floor but still didn’t let go. They sat leaning against the bathtub with Chloe resting her head on Beca’s shoulder, encased in her girlfriend’s arms. Beca began to softly caress her hair and said, “I know how you feel. But this isn’t you right now: you’re hurting and drunk and not thinking straight.” They sat there in silence for a few minutes, and then Chloe lurched forwards and threw up into the toilet. Beca grabbed her hair and combed it away from her face, and made circles on her back with her other hand.   
When Chloe seemed to be finished, Beca grabbed some toilet roll and wiped her mouth. Slowly, Chloe stood up and picked up a bottle of mouthwash. She gargled a mouthful and spat it out in the sink, and Beca noticed her begin to sway again. Before she had a chance to fall, Beca guided her back to the floor and figured it would be a while before they left that spot. The bathroom tiles were freezing cold and Chloe was shivering, but she wasn’t in a fit state to be moved. Improvising, Beca pulled a towel off the radiator and draped it over both of them. Chloe began to slip down to a lying position, and not wanting to leave her for one moment Beca lay next to her, accepting the reality that they would more than likely be spending the night there. Her body cocooned around Chloe’s, and from behind she wrapped her arms around Chloe’s waist in attempts to keep her warm as her eyes drifted shut.  
Several hours later, Chloe woke with a killer headache and blurry memories of the night before. She stood up, waking Beca, and went over to the sink to brush the taste of shame out of her mouth. As she finished Beca stood up and wandered over to her side. “How you feeling?” she asked, and got her answer when Chloe merely held her head in pain. She remembered getting drunk… and then throwing up… and then falling asleep on the bathroom floor next to Beca. Her head pounded as she walked to the cabinet, and she moaned when the painkillers were missing. She wandered out the door followed by Beca when she noticed the bottle of painkillers lying on the floor outside the bathroom.  
All of a sudden she remembered why they were out there; why Beca had to fight them off her and throw them away. She spun round and looked at Beca with a mixture of emotions. “Oh my god… I…” she said, unable to string a sentence together but Beca nodded, knowing what she meant. “I’m so sorry,” Chloe said, unsure what else to say. Beca pulled her into a hug and broke down. “I hated seeing you like that. I hated seeing you giving up,” she cried into Chloe’s shoulder. “You can’t see him again. I mean it this time. We’ll sort something out – I don’t know what, but you can’t see him ever again.” Chloe nodded, feeling waves of guilt flood her veins when she saw how her actions the previous night affected Beca.  
They walked over to the sofa with two cups of coffee and placed the mugs on the side table before sinking into the seats. Chloe sat down, and Beca lay on the sofa and placed her head on Chloe’s lap. She began to play with the brunette’s hair and asked, “Are you mad at me?” Beca shook her head and replied, “Why the heck would I be mad at you?”   
“Because when you tried to… you know… It came from a very real place and you were really hurting whereas I was just drunk and upset. I thought that might annoy you.”   
“It doesn’t matter whether you were drunk or not – you were hurting just as much as I was. You were hurting for different reasons, but hurting nonetheless. The alcohol made you not think clearly, but that doesn’t make me annoyed. It makes me want to look after you and help you get through this.”  
Chloe gave a weak smile, and Beca knew she would have to do something more to convince her that she wasn’t annoyed. She put her hand on Chloe’s chest, and instructed Chloe to do the same. Tentatively Chloe placed her hand on Beca’s chest, and listened as the smaller girl explained, “You feel that? I can feel your heartbeat, and you can feel mine. Let’s keep it that way.” Chloe finally smiled, and then leant down placing a firm kiss on Beca’s lips. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said.  
“Ditto,” Beca replied, “Which is why we both have to stay alive for each other.”


	10. Chapter Ten

A week had passed since the incident at Chloe’s and luckily there had been no repeat of events; at least not to Beca’s knowledge. She was sitting in her philosophy class aimlessly taking notes when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. It was a message from Chloe reading: I think it’s about time I took you on a date, to make up for last week x. Beca eagerly replied arranging a time, and suddenly couldn’t wait to get out of philosophy. After class she had a Bella’s rehearsal, but the thought of Chloe being in the same room as her made the whole thing a lot more bearable. Beca sat behind her desk daydreaming about the date that night, and it took one of her classmates bashing into her as he walked by to snap her out of the trance. She looked around at the class emptying and speedily packed up her bags to head to rehearsal.  
To say she was shocked when she walked in the hall was an understatement, as not only were the Bellas sitting there, but the Treble Makers were too. Cautiously she walked over and said, “What’s going on?” Every one of the Bellas remained silent as she sat down, and they definitely didn’t look pleased at the boys’ intrusion. Eventually Bumper stood up and explained, “Kori told us that she was kicked out of your group just for sleeping with one of us. We just wanted to make a point about how unfair that is, because none of you ladies should be denied the pleasure of a world-rocking night with one of us.” As he finished he winked at Stacie, who gave a flirty smile back. She was about to stand up but Chloe, who was sitting next to the sex-crazed girl, put her hand on Stacie’s shoulder and pushed her down into the seat. Then, a boy whom Beca vaguely recognised stood up and looked at her and Chloe. “And if you two ever want to experience life on the other team, I’d be down with that.”  
Chloe’s mouth dropped open and Beca stared in shock at the boy, and they finally remembered him as the guy who saw them kiss at the aca-party the other week. At the time they didn’t think anything of it and just assumed that he would be too drunk to remember what he saw, but evidently they thought wrong. Fat Amy and Aubrey stayed silent not wanting to let on that they already knew, but the other girls didn’t do well hiding their shock. Cynthia-Rose spun round and said, “I knew it!” Whereas Lilly just looked scared, and Stacie looked confused and spoke up, “But, Chloe and Beca aren’t going to change teams. They’re happy in the Barden Bella’s and also, the Trebles are an all-boys group. Why would they want to change to that team?” Muffled laughter spread across the room until Cynthia took it upon herself to quietly explain it all to Stacie. Beca sunk down in her chair and wished for the ground to swallow her up there and then. She locked eyes with Jesse – her friend from the radio station, and pleaded with her eyes for him to say something and stop people talking about it, but he just sat there silently.  
Much to everyone’s surprise Aubrey stood up and said, “You need to leave. You’ve made your point about Kori, so now you can go and let us get on with rehearsal.” Slowly the Trebles got up and sauntered out of the room. Chloe turned to Aubrey and mouthed, “Thank you,” with a grateful smile. Even Beca had to admit she was thankful for the blonde standing up for them, and then making everyone work extra hard in rehearsal to take their minds off the recent revelation. After three hours of cardio and going over and over the ‘I Saw a Sign’ choreography, Aubrey decided to call it a day. Beca walked up to Chloe and said, “See you at six at your place?” Chloe nodded, and realising that there was no point in hiding it any more she leant over and gave Beca a quick kiss. From the other side of the room they heard someone cheer and wolf whistle, and spun round to see Fat Amy fist pumping the air. “Sorry,” the Australian said, “I’m just really excited for you guys.” The two girls laughed, and even Aubrey had to smirk at Amy’s behaviour. Beca waved goodbye to them and then left to get ready for their date.  
As the room emptied Chloe turned to her best friend and said, “You didn’t have to do that, but I’m glad you did.” Aubrey smiled but looked at the floor, feeling slightly embarrassed. Then, returning to her normal self she took Chloe by the arm and said, “Come on, let’s go and get you a new outfit for your hot date tonight.” Chloe grinned and allowed herself to be pulled by Aubrey, unbelievably glad that her best friend was showing signs of liking and accepting Beca. They walked off arm in arm and headed for the shops. Meanwhile in the Baker Hall dorm, Beca was frantically pulling out several different outfits. She was definitely wearing skinny jeans – she knew that much. But then it was a question of heels or flats? Formal or casual top? Jacket or sweater? After an hour of deliberation, she decided on a deep red vest top with a silvery grey scarf, her leather jacket and low black boot heels. Noticing the time she grabbed her clothes and a towel, and ran down to the shower rooms.  
“You look amazing Chloe,” Aubrey sighed as she admired her best friend trying on an outfit. It was a royal blue dress with a neckline sweeping around her collarbone, and matching blue heels. “Do you really think so?” Chloe asked, and Aubrey nodded eagerly. It didn’t take much convincing for her to buy it, and soon they headed back to the apartment so Chloe could get ready. Once she was dressed she sat on the floor in front of the sofa where Aubrey was sitting, and she let her best friend’s nimble fingers brush and style her hair. She had her hair tied up all day so now she was having it out long and falling perfectly over her shoulders. A wave of nerves hit her, and Chloe began panicking, “Are you sure I look okay? This is our first proper date… I know we’ve been together a while but we’ve just never been on an actual date before. What do I do? Is there any gum lying around? I don’t want to have bad breath. And can I borrow your perfume? You know the one I really like? And-…”   
“Chloe,” Aubrey interrupted, “You look fine, you smell fine, and you are going to be fine.” Chloe let out a shaky breath and nodded unconvincingly. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and they both looked at the time realising it was already 6 o’clock. “I’m not ready yet! I haven’t even put my makeup on yet!” Chloe panicked, but Aubrey held her by the arms and shook her gently into her senses. “You don’t need makeup – you look absolutely fine, trust me. Now go in your room and compose yourself; don’t worry about Beca, I’ll let her in and tell her you’ll just be a couple of minutes.” Chloe nodded and hurried into her room to do her final checks of how her dress looked and then tried to calm herself down.  
Whilst Chloe was smoothing down creases in her room, Aubrey opened the door to Beca and invited her in. They sat on the sofa and Aubrey explained, “She’ll just be a few minutes.” Beca nodded, and the two sat there in an awkward silence until Beca cracked under pressure and desperately asked, “How do I look? Am I too casual? Should I have worn a dress? Or is this too much? I’ve never been on a date before… Not just with Chloe but with anyone. What do I do?” She was cut off when Aubrey burst out laughing. When she saw Beca’s confused look she explained, “I’m sorry – I don’t mean to laugh! It’s just… I literally heard the same thing from Chloe five minutes ago. You’re fine, you look great Beca – don’t worry.” The two girls smiled each other, realising that neither one of them was as bad as the other thought.   
Aubrey started to ask Beca about her mixes, and even suggested her bringing one into rehearsal for them all to try out. As they began to discuss songs, a much calmer Chloe walked out of her room. “Wow,” was all that Beca could say as she noticed how blue Chloe’s eyes looked against her dress. “Wow yourself,” Chloe replied as she walked over and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss. “I see you two are bonding?” she said, looking at Aubrey and Beca sitting there smiling together. Aubrey nodded and explained, “Yes we are. Beca even said she’d bring one of her mixes into next rehearsal. But anyway – you better get on your way.” The two girls walked towards the door and just before they left, Aubrey whispered into Chloe’s ear, “If you want me to get out of the apartment so you have the place to yourselves when you get back, just text me and I’ll be out of your way.” Chloe winked at her best friend and whispered thanks before heading outside hand in hand with Beca.  
The restaurant they were going to was quite low-key and not too far away from campus, so they arrived within ten minutes. Once they had sat down and ordered, Beca reached under the table and held Chloe’s hand. It took them several minutes before Chloe moved their hands onto the table and said, “We don’t have to hide it anymore. Everyone knows now, and I suppose that this is one good thing that’s come out of it.” They sat there with wide grins on their faces and only separated their hands when the food arrived.  
Several hours later after a lot of talking and even more laughing, Chloe called for the bill in preparation to leave. Beca picked it up and looked at how much her meal was before reaching for her purse, but Chloe stopped her. “This is a date, and I’m paying,” she insisted, but Beca wasn’t going down without a fight. She tried to explain how it was only fair that she paid her own way, but eventually Chloe got her own way and they left soon after. Neither of them had even considered what would happen after the date, especially not as far as Aubrey had obviously thought into it. As they reached campus though Chloe realised she didn’t want the night to end and said, “Do you want to come over mine? We can watch TV and just laze about like every other time?” Beca nodded, feeling exactly the same way about not wanting the night to end. Subtly Chloe whipped out her phone and text Aubrey: Coming back with Beca but you don’t have to leave – we’re just going to watch a movie x.  
As they reached the front door to the apartment Chloe put her key in the door and pushed it open. “We’re back!” she called out, but no response came. She flicked on the light and noticed a piece of paper sitting on the kitchen counter. She read it and then said, “Oh Aubrey’s gone over her boyfriends.” Beca nodded, took off her scarf and coat, kicked off her shoes and headed over to the sofa. “What do you fancy watching?” she called out. Chloe took off her heels and threw them into her room before wandering over to the sofa. “I think I saved an episode of House if you want to watch that?” she said, and Beca flicked on the TV and put it on. It wasn’t long before Beca was leaning into Chloe, resting her head on her shoulder. Chloe put her arm around the smaller girl, feeling so warm and like that was how it was meant to be – just the two of them cuddling up against each other.  
“I had an awesome time tonight. We need to go on dates more often,” Beca said, turning her head to look at Chloe. Chloe looked directly into the cobalt eyes that she loved and replied, “I had an amazing time too. And you looked really beautiful.” Beca smiled and weakly shook her head in disbelief. “Trust me,” Chloe said, “You are beautiful,” and she leant in and kissed Beca. At first it was tender and sweet, but soon the kiss deepened. Both of them turned slightly on the sofa so they were fully facing each other, and Chloe rested one hand on Beca’s leg. She felt Beca’s tongue graze her lips and her mouth opened slightly. Their tongues brushed together smoothly and the kiss became more passionate, more sensual. Beca lifted her hands and ran them through the flames of hair as Chloe repositioned her hands to Beca’s waist. Her fingers found the hem of the red vest top and she ran her fingertips gently across the bare skin beneath the material.  
Almost subconsciously Chloe swiftly tugged the top upwards and discarded it to the floor. She waited for any sign of resistance from Beca, but if anything she was encouraged to continue. She put her hands beneath the upper part of Beca’s legs and attempted to lift, but a sudden pain in her side from the injury that hospitalised her just over a week ago stopped her. Noticing the discomfort it caused her, Beca stood up and held one of Chloe’s hands. She glanced over to the bedroom and Chloe said, “Are you sure?” Beca nodded and pulled Chloe to her feet before leading her into the room.   
Chloe pushed the door shut behind her and before she could walk any further into the room Beca kissed her again, leaning her back against the door. She linked their hands together and brought them above their heads before running her hands down Chloe’s sides and finding the zip of the dress. In one swift move she pulled it down, and hooked the straps off Chloe’s arms before leaving a trail of kisses from her shoulder to her neck, and then back up to her mouth. The blue outfit slipped off Chloe’s toned body, and not parting their lips for one moment, she walked Beca backwards to the bed and held the back of her head as she lay her down gently on top of the duvet. As she eased herself above the smaller girl’s body she couldn’t help but run her hands up Beca’s sides, loving the feel of her smooth, bare skin. Beca ran her fingers down Chloe’s back, gently grazing her spine with her fingernails. Chloe’s body automatically responded by dipping closer to Beca’s so their skin was touching, and amongst many other things, Chloe thought how glad she was that Aubrey had decided to go out for the night.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chloe looked at the girl next to her; face down in the pillow, brunette hair sprawled everywhere, and the covers pushed down slightly revealing her bare back. She couldn’t help but gently run her fingers up and down Beca’s back, and luckily she remained asleep. Last night was… amazing to say the least. She lay there in a trance, hypnotised by her girlfriend’s back as it rose and fell as she breathed in and out. Her focus was drawn to her bedroom door as it slowly creaked open and a certain blonde poked her head in the room. “Hey, I’m back,” Aubrey said, and then she noticed the extra body in her best friend’s bed. Chloe urgently put one finger in front of her mouth and whispered “shh”, anxious not to wake Beca. A mischievous grin spread across Aubrey’s face as she gave Chloe thumbs up and then left the room. The door gently clicked shut and Beca groaned, starting to wake up.  
“Hey beautiful,” Chloe said as Beca’s face emerged from the white pillow. Blearily she turned around in bed, clutching the sheets to her chest when she realised her state of undress. Her lips stretched into a smile as memories of the previous night came flooding back. “Hi,” she said bashfully. “Do you want some breakfast?” Chloe asked as she placed a kiss on the tip of Beca’s nose. Beca nodded, but remained in bed as Chloe clambered out and pulled on some tracksuit bottoms and a vest top. “Are you coming?” she asked looking at Beca. Beca nodded, but didn’t move an inch. Chloe stared at her inquisitively waiting for her to move, and finally Beca explained, “I’ll see you out there. I’ll just grab something from your wardrobe in a sec.” Realising that Beca wasn’t going to change until she left the room, she walked out and into the kitchen to make some pancakes.   
A few minutes later the brunette sauntered out the room shyly. “You know I didn’t have to leave for you to get changed,” Chloe said as she flipped a pancake, “I saw it all last night, and you have nothing to be ashamed of.” Beca nodded nonchalantly, and Chloe decided to leave it and accept that she couldn’t expect her girlfriend to change overnight into a body-confidant person. They sat and ate breakfast, and just as they were washing up Aubrey walked out of her room. “Hi,” she said cheerily. “Oh Beca, I passed Jesse earlier on my morning run and I think he was looking for you. I told him you crashed here last night so I think he’s on his way over soon.”  
As if on cue there was a knock at the door, and Beca wandered across the apartment to answer it. However she was taken aback when she saw in the hallway not only Jesse, but two police officers accompanying him. “Is Beca Mitchell here?” one of the officers asked, but Beca was too stunned to answer. With the sound of poison in his voice Jesse spoke up, “That’s her.” By now Chloe and Aubrey had wandered over to the door, and before they knew it the policeman was taking Beca by her arm and saying, “Rebeca Mitchell you are under arrest on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.” He continued talking, but Beca had zoned out as everything turned into a blur. She started screaming for help and Chloe could do nothing but watch as her girlfriend was dragged down the hallway. Tears streamed down both their faces, and when Beca was out of sight Chloe came to her sense and grabbed Jesse by the collar.  
She rammed him viscously against the wall and said, “What the fuck was that?!” Aubrey took a step closer, but wasn’t in any hurry to hold Chloe back. “I did it for you!” Jesse shouted, and Chloe loosened her grip. She looked at him with confusion until he continued, “I saw what she was doing to you. I noticed the black eye, and your makeup didn’t exactly cover your rib bruise at the carwash. And then you coincidently have to go into hospital after leaving a party with Beca? It didn’t take a genius to figure out she was abusing you.” Chloe was absolutely baffled by his logic and screamed, “You bastard! She’d never hurt me! And you called the police?! Beca would never hurt me! You’re just angry that she wouldn’t go out with you! You bastard!” she started to hit him and didn’t have any intention of stopping until Aubrey pulled her away. “You don’t have to cover for her! You’ll thank me later!” Jesse shouted as the door was slammed in his face.   
Chloe began angrily pacing the apartment as Aubrey said, “What’s going on? I don’t believe for one second Beca would hit you, but the police do so you better have a good explanation!” Chloe stopped in her tracks and took in a deep breath before explaining the real cause of her bruises. When she finished, Aubrey had to sit down for fear of passing out. How could she have not realised this? All along her best friend had been suffering through this pain and she hadn’t noticed. She was kicking herself, but anxious to do something about it now that she knew she stood up and said, “Get your coat. We’ve got to go down to the station and explain everything.” Chloe looked hesitant as she thought about her dad and the consequences she would have to face if things didn’t go to plan, but Aubrey pointed out, “You have to choose between Beca and your dad, and I sure as hell know who I’d go with.” Thinking of it like that Chloe picked up her coat and was out the door in the blink of an eye.  
Meanwhile at the police station, Beca was sitting opposite a police sergeant being ruthlessly interviewed. “So you’ve already told us that you didn’t hit her, but if you didn’t, who did?” he asked. “I don’t know,” Beca replied defiantly, determined not to make anything worse for her girlfriend. After half an hour of the same question being asked and unanswered over and over again, another policeman entered the room and whispered something quietly in the sergeant’s ear. He glanced over at Beca and then stood up and left the room. She sat there alone, and it wasn’t long before the silence got to her. Tears built up in her eyes, but she was determined not to cry. A lump formed in her throat as she tried to fight the tears, but it was useless as she cradled her head in her hands and started to sob.  
Ten minutes later, the sergeant returned to the room and said, “You’re free to go.” Beca looked up from her hands and stared at him in disbelief. “Your friend came and explained everything. We’re on our way to pick her dad up now.” Not needing to be told twice, Beca leapt up from her seat, signed some papers, and left. Outside the police station sitting on a bench was Chloe and Aubrey, and Beca broke into a run towards them. Chloe stood up and Beca’s body slammed into her as she pulled her in for a hug. “I am so sorry Beca,” Chloe repeatedly said as she felt the brunette sob into her shoulder. They stood there in each other’s arms refusing to part for five minutes, and then Aubrey said, “Come on, I’ll drive you both home.”  
Beca explained everything that happened on the journey home, and Chloe couldn’t apologise enough. “Stop,” Beca said, “It’s not your fault – it was Jesse who told them it was me. Besides, your dad has been caught now so maybe this was a blessing in disguise.” Chloe unbuckled her seatbelt and shifted over next to Beca, resting her head on her shoulder. “I know,” she said, “I’m still sorry,” and tears silently rolled down her cheeks. Beca didn’t notice her crying until she lifted her hands to brush the tears away. They pulled up to Chloe’s apartment, stepped out the car and Aubrey walked slightly ahead to give them some privacy. Knowing that there were no words to convince Chloe that she was okay, Beca settled for holding her hand comfortingly as they walked up to her front door.  
They entered the apartment and Aubrey turned to Beca and said, “Feel free to stay here tonight. It’s been a long day.” Beca nodded gratefully before turning to face Chloe. She held her by the arms and said, “I’m glad that it happened. I’m glad because now I don’t have to see you get hurt anymore. I don’t have to be afraid every time I touch you because of any injuries you may have. I would go through it a hundred times again if it kept you safe.” Chloe smiled weakly and pulled the smaller girl into a hug. “I’m never going to let you go,” she whispered, referring to more than just the hug. “Me neither,” Beca replied.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chloe anxiously locked the front door and then stood staring at it, wondering how else she could lock it. Beca stood in the kitchen holding a mug of coffee and watching Chloe, having learnt already that it was pointless trying to stop her. Besides, if it made her feel safe then she could bolt the door all she wanted. However when Chloe got behind the sofa and tried to drag it in front of the door, Beca decided to intervene. “Chloe you don’t have to block the door that much. It’s locked; so are all the windows and no one is getting in.” It was as if Chloe didn’t hear a word of what she said as she continued to pull the sofa, but to no avail. Beca took her by the arm and led her round to sit on the couch that refused to move, and said, “Look, I don’t get why they’ve let your dad out either but it’s not for long. He’s just been released on bail until his trial, and then he’ll be locked away for years. Besides, if he even comes near you it will break his bail and he’ll go straight back to prison, so I doubt he’ll be risking it.”  
Not finding any comfort in Beca’s words, Chloe sighed. “I just… I’m worried. And I can’t keep my mind off him.” Beca put her arm around Chloe and pulled her head towards her as she placed a kiss on top of her forehead. Chloe tilted her head up and made their lips meet, bringing Beca in for a deeper kiss. Slowly she eased Beca on top of her, not letting their lips part for one moment. She ran her hands through the brunette’s hair and arched her back, moving their bodies closer as she felt a pair of hands run down her sides. Just as Beca was about to lift off Chloe’s shirt, they were interrupted by Aubrey walking out of her room. “Whoa! I know you’re trying to distract yourself from other things Chloe but can you at least take your distractions into the bedroom?” Chloe laughed as she pulled Beca to her feet, but just as they reached her bedroom there was a knock at the front door.   
Instantly Chloe froze and tightened her grip on Beca’s arm. “It’s fine, it won’t be him,” Beca comforted, trying to convince herself as well as Chloe. Even Aubrey felt her chest tighten as she walked towards the door and turned the key to unlock it. She opened the door, but no one was there. Chloe and Beca watched, holding their breath as Aubrey stepped out into the hallway to see who knocked. Just as they thought they were safe and probably imagined the noise, a pair of arms grabbed Aubrey and threw her to the floor. “Stay out here princess,” a low voice said, and Chloe knew it all too well as her fathers.   
“Get in your room,” Beca urged as she pushed Chloe into her bedroom. Chloe shook her head, never feeling so afraid in her life, but Beca was too strong for her. Before she knew it she was standing inside her room alone, and Beca was barricading the door from the other side. “You need to leave,” Beca said with a shaky voice and not too much conviction. She could feel her breath shorten as the well-built man began to walk towards her after locking the front door, keeping Aubrey outside. “I just want to talk to my daughter and find out why she was lying about me,” he said in a calm voice, “You’ve met me. Beca, wasn’t it? I showed you my music collection. Do you really think an old man like me could hurt Chloe like that?” Beca nodded timidly, and his attitude changed completely.  
He stormed into the kitchen and began shouting about how he’s a good man, and he just needed to get Chloe to tell the police it wasn’t him. “You need to leave, Mr Beale,” Beca said a little louder. He turned around and looked at her as if she just said the most stupid thing in the world. Her breath caught in her throat as he grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter and held it up. “You don’t tell me what to do! You get out of my way and let me talk to my daughter!” he screamed at her, and Beca stood there shaking. Behind her she heard the door gently click open, and Chloe appeared next to her. Beca looked at her, urging her to go back inside, but she stayed put.  
“Baby,” her father said, sounding like a completely different person to a few seconds ago. “You know that I’m not a bad person. Only bad people go to jail, and I’m not one of them. You need to go back to the police and tell them what a nice father I am.” Chloe shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. All she could say was, “You make me sick.” His face went bright red with anger and he tightened his grip on the knife. He took two steps forward and Beca protectively put up an arm shielding Chloe. “Change your fucking statement!” he yelled, making both the girls jump out of their skin. Chloe shook her head as tears fell down her face, and her dad ran one hand through his hair before walking towards her.  
Beca kept her arm up the whole time as Mr Beale shouted and spat in Chloe’s face. For a third time he demanded that she changed her statement, and for a third time Chloe refused. “You worthless piece of shit,” he said and lunged forwards. Beca shoved Chloe to the floor and felt an immense pain in the left side of her stomach. Chloe turned round in time to see her dad storming out of the apartment, and felt a sense of joy rush through her. Seconds later sirens started up and Aubrey ran into the apartment saying, “I called the police and they literally just caught him on his way out. Oh my… Beca…” Chloe followed Aubrey’s gaze and hurriedly stood up when she saw Beca clutching her side.  
The amount of blood staining her shirt and dripping onto the floor shocked Chloe that so much could come from such a small girl. Becoming paler by the second, Beca dropped to the floor and her hands fell to her sides. Aubrey was already on the phone for a second time to the emergency services and requesting an ambulance, whilst Chloe sat next to Beca trying to put pressure on the wound. As warm blood soaked her hands, she began to sob and cried desperately, “Come on Beca! Stay with me!” Aubrey grabbed a towel from the kitchen and ran over to Beca’s side before pressing the material into the wound, taking over from Chloe. Grateful for the release, Chloe let Aubrey attempt to take care of the gaping wound as she wrapped her arms around Beca’s body.   
She picked up one of Beca’s hands and held it to her own heart, and then placed one of her hands on Beca’s heart. “Remember this?” Chloe said, her voice breaking slightly. “I can feel your heartbeat and you can feel mine, and it has to stay that way. Okay?” Beca struggled to hold her gaze with Chloe, and soon her eyes drifted shut. Chloe shook her awake, pleading for her to keep her eyes open. “I can’t lose you,” she kept repeating. As the paramedics ran into the apartment Beca’s eyes opened slightly as she breathed out, “I’ll still look after you.” The paramedics shoved Chloe and Aubrey out the way as Beca’s eyes closed for a second time, and no matter how much she was shaken she didn’t open them again.  
“What does she mean that she’ll still look after you?” Aubrey asked curiously as they stood next to one another, letting the paramedics do their job. Chloe wiped away the tears streaming down her face and said, “She believes in heaven. So she means that even if… even if she…” she couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.   
“She’ll look after you from heaven?” Aubrey asked, and found herself begin to cry as Chloe nodded shakily. “That won’t happen,” she said, pulling Chloe into a hug. But both of them came to doubt that sentence as the paramedics loaded Beca onto a stretcher and one of them said, “I don’t have a pulse. She’s gone.”


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chloe stood up from her seat in the church and steadily walked to the front. She began, “Beca was… incredible. She was so different, so new. Every time I saw her it was so refreshing and made everything bad go away.” She took a few moments to breathe deeply, and then continued, “She saved my life in so many different ways. I loved her with all my heart. No, I love her with all my heart. Because the last thing… the last thing she said to me…” Tears began to spill out her eyes and Aubrey perched on the edge of her seat, ready to take over. However Chloe continued through the tears, “She said to me ‘I’ll still look after you’. So that’s how I know… I know that she is still here with me,” her voice began to break, “She is never going to leave me, and I don’t want her to. She made me happy, and I love her.”   
On those last three words, her tears became uncontrollable and when she finished she put her hand over her mouth to suppress the sobs. Aubrey was up within seconds and put her arms supportively around Chloe as she guided her back to her seat. “Are you okay?” she whispered, and Chloe nodded. Then, Aubrey returned to the front with a piece of paper in her hands. She read out, “I know that I wasn’t Beca’s favourite person, but we were becoming close. And like Chloe said, she was refreshing.” She paused for a moment and then looked back down at the paper she was holding. She took in a deep breath and then read out a poem Chloe knew Beca loved.   
“Angels looked around a garden, and found an empty place. They then looked down upon the earth, and saw your precious face. They put their arms around you and lifted you to rest; their garden must be beautiful – angels always take the best. They knew that you were suffering, they knew you were in pain, they knew you’d never ever get well on earth again. So they closed your weary eyelids and whispered, “Peace be thine.” Then they took you up to Heaven with hands so gentle and kind. It broke our hearts to lose you, but you did not go alone. For part of us went with you, the day the angels took you home.”  
As she finished Chloe couldn’t take it anymore and ran out of the church, sobbing. Aubrey instinctively followed as the service continued, and found Chloe collapsed on the floor outside the doors. She sat down next to her and cradled her in her arms. Chloe shook and sobbed into her best friend’s shoulder, and felt selfish when all she wanted was Beca. In front of them someone coughed, and Chloe raised her head to look at who wanted their attention. She jumped when she saw standing before her was her father with a violent look in his eye and he said, “I’m here to finish what I started.” Chloe began screaming and kicking out trying to fight the man before her, but felt arms pinning her down and restraining her.  
She clenched her eyes shut as she kicked out, until she heard someone say her name. Chloe opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight before her. “Was it the nightmare again?” Beca asked, still restraining Chloe by the shoulders. Chloe nodded and continued crying. Beca pulled her up into a tight hug and said, “You need to stop thinking about it. I’m fine, I’m still here. Your dad’s been in prison for 6 months now and he’s not getting out any time soon.” Chloe buried her face in Beca’s neck as the tears eventually subdued. She shook in fear and clutched onto the smaller girl, not wanting to ever let her go.  
Eventually, Beca pulled away and flicked on the light. She looked over and saw Chloe sitting there drenched in sweat, still shaking even though the nightmare was over. “Come on,” she said encouragingly, “Let’s get you into some new pyjamas.” Chloe allowed Beca to take her by the hand and pull her out of the bed and towards the wardrobe. Beca pulled out a fresh pair of shorts and a vest top and handed them to Chloe. She didn’t mind when Chloe changed in front of her – she was used to it by now. These nightmares were happening several times a week, each time requiring a change of clothes. Chloe had spent every day in hospital with Beca, and when she was finally released Chloe insisted she came to live with her. It didn’t take much convincing before she accepted, despite the fact that it also meant moving in with Aubrey. But even Aubrey had been uncharacteristically welcoming and she felt a lot happier in that apartment.  
“Do you think you can get back to sleep?” Beca asked, knowing it was a long shot as it was very early hours of the morning. Chloe shook her head and so Beca took her by the hand, leading her into the kitchen. “Hot chocolate?” she asked, and a small grin spread across Chloe’s face. Between them they made a cup each of hot chocolate with a pile of cream on top, chocolate sprinkles, and marshmallows. They sunk down onto the sofa; Chloe leaning into Beca needing to feel the safety of her warmth. Beca took a sip, wiped the cream moustache from her mouth and asked, “Was it the same as usual?” Chloe nodded before taking a sip of the drink, finding that hot chocolate made it all easier to talk about.   
“I spoke first, and then Aubrey read that poem you really love, and I couldn’t take it so I went outside, but my dad was there,” she explained. Beca nodded, and still holding the mug she raised her free hand to stroke through Chloe’s hair comfortingly. At first it was strange to hear about her own imaginary funeral, but now hearing it was just a process to help Chloe feel better. She could tell that Chloe still wasn’t relaxed and asked, “What’s wrong?”  
“I just feel awful and so selfish. You’re the one who was stabbed, but I’m the one who’s taking the longest to get over it.”  
“Don’t think like that,” Beca said, pulling her girlfriend closer, “It’s not your fault. You’ve gone through a lot more than I have in the long run, so you have every right to need my support right now.” Chloe was still unconvinced, but relaxed at the thought that Beca wasn’t mad at her. They finished up their hot chocolates and lay down on the sofa, getting more comfortable. Beca had her arm around Chloe, and Chloe stretched her arm across Beca’s waist. She began tracing circles on her stomach with her delicate fingers, but stopped when she felt the slightly raised skin underneath her hand.   
Beca noticed Chloe freeze and said, “It is okay, you can touch it. It won’t hurt I promise.” Chloe traced the scar up and down with her fingers, at first feeling crushed by the guilt but eventually she found it soothing. It was a scar showing that Beca had survived; that she had saved a life and come out stronger because of it. “I love you,” Chloe whispered and turned her head so she was facing Beca. “I love you too,” Beca replied and placed a kiss on the top of Chloe’s head. Eventually they dozed off in each other’s arms, and didn’t wake until it was nearly midday. Chloe woke first, causing Beca to wake soon after. They looked at the coffee table in front of them to see a note from Aubrey: Hope you’re okay, left something for both of you in the kitchen x  
Intrigued as to what it was, they slowly stood up still trying to wake up and headed into the kitchen. On the counter top was a CD titled, ‘Bella’s New Mix’. Chloe picked it up and put it in the CD player, wondering how on earth Aubrey thought this was something nice to leave for them. However, all was explained when she hit play and one of Beca’s mixes – Just the Way You Are and Just A Dream began playing. Beca squealed as she realised that this was Aubrey’s way of telling her that they would be singing one of her mixes with the Bellas. Chloe excitedly jumped up and down, feeling so happy for her girlfriend. Hurriedly they got dressed, grabbed something to eat for lunch, and then headed out to Bella rehearsals.  
They rehearsed until it was dark, but all they sang was “I Saw a Sign”. Beca began to lose hope, until at the very end Aubrey said, “Okay, I know how hard you’ve all worked today so now I thought we’d do something different. Beca, do you want to lead?” Beca felt like it was the moment she had been waiting for, and she wanted it to be perfect. “Sure, but not here,” she said provoking some confused but intrigued looks as she led everyone down to the abandoned swimming pool, explaining what songs they were mashing up. “Chloe, are you okay to lead?” she asked, and the redhead nodded. Beca began by singing the high backing notes, initiating everyone else to follow.   
Chloe made sure to make direct eye contact with Beca as she sang, “Her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they’re not shining. Her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her trying. She’s so beautiful, and I tell her every day.” She made a point of emphasising the words ‘she’s so beautiful’, wanting to tell Beca exactly what she thought of her. Then, Beca began mixing in the second song and sang, “I was thinking ‘bout her, thinking ‘bout me, thinking ‘bout us, who we gonna be.” It was as if they were having a private conversation between them, telling each other exactly how they felt. Briefly Beca’s eyes flicked across the other girls to check they were getting on okay, but soon she found her gaze returning to Chloe. Both of them felt a small smile develop on their faces, and felt their hearts warm up at the sight of each other.  
Soon the song finished, and Chloe quickly winked at Beca. They were distracted from one another as the rest of the girls cheered, feeling invincible after performing that amazing mix. They all excitedly headed back up to campus, complimenting Beca the whole way. Eventually they departed to go their own ways, and Beca, Aubrey, and Chloe headed back to their apartment. “Thanks Aubrey,” Beca said, feeling so grateful that her music was being sung in the Bellas. “It’s no problem,” the blonde replied, “You’re actually quite good at that stuff.” Beca smiled at the compliment and Chloe reached for her hand, giving it a light squeeze. They reached the apartment and Aubrey went straight into the bathroom to perform her night-time routine of cleansing, toning, moisturising and goodness knew what else. “What do you want for dinner?” Chloe asked.  
“Hmm… Surprise me,” Beca answered and quickly went into their room to pick something up. As she re-emerged, Chloe was already mixing something in a bowl in preparation for dinner. Beca walked up behind her and looped her arms around her waist. She rested her head on Chloe’s shoulder and watched as she sprinkled some herbs into the bowl. “Can I help you?” Chloe asked, becoming distracted by Beca’s warm breath on her skin. Beca placed her lips against Chloe’s neck and then said, “I just wanted to give you something.” Chloe turned her head, waiting to see what it was and Beca closed the distance between them, bringing her into a kiss. Chloe put her tools down and turned around so she was facing Beca, deepening the kiss. Their lips pushed against each other firmly, and Beca placed her hands on Chloe’s sides before slowly pulling away.  
“That was great, but not quite what I wanted to give you,” Beca explained and Chloe raised an eyebrow inquisitively. Beca took her by the hands and said, “I wanted to give you… me. For the rest of our lives, I want you to have me and I want to have you.” She pulled out something from her pocket, and held it in between them. It was a beautiful ring and Chloe gasped. “It’s only a promise ring, so not quite an engagement,” Beca explained, knowing that Chloe wanted to wait until she was out of college before getting engaged. “But I love you, and so this is me promising to never stop loving you for as long as I live.” Her heart was pounding, worried about how Chloe would respond.  
She let out a sigh of relief when a smile appeared on Chloe’s face and tears formed in her eyes. “I love it,” she said, allowing Beca to slide the ring on her finger. “I love you,” she said and leant forwards, placing a kiss on Beca’s lips. “Have a look on the inside,” Beca instructed, feeling happier than she ever had before. Chloe took the ring off and examined the inside engraving. She smiled even wider when she read the words that cast her back to the time when they first properly met; words that somehow still applied to everything they had gone through those past few months. Her heart leapt and she flung her arms around Beca, pulling her into a tight hug. “You’re amazing,” she said, feeling so lucky to have Beca in her life. Aubrey wandered out of the bathroom in her pyjamas and said, “What’s the celebration?”   
Excitedly Chloe ran up to her best friend, showing her the ring as she returned it to her finger. “Wow, good taste Beca,” she complimented with a wink, pretending it was the first time she had seen it. In reality, last week Beca had come to her for help asking desperately which ring she should buy. But she was surprised when Chloe squealed, “She got it engraved as well!” Aubrey raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh yeah? What does it say?” Tears came to Chloe’s eyes again as she replied, “Shoot me down, but I won’t fall.”


End file.
